Western Pennsylvania Healthcare News

Covering healthcare news in the Pittsburgh region and beyond.

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Serving our area for over 30 years, Family Hospice and Palliative Care is Western Pennsylvania’s largest non-profit hospice provider. It serves people of all ages and all walks of life in nine counties in Western Pennsylvania, helping patients make choices about their care, supporting family and friends who are grieving and educating both professionals and the community about end-of-life issues. With a commitment to innovative care programs, Family Hospice and Palliative Care provides a complete continuum of care to patients and families. Its website is www.familyhospice.com.

Family Hospice Offers Free Camp Healing Hearts for Grieving Children

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Children and their families at last year’s Camp Healing Hearts participated in structured activities, including paintings masks to illustrate how they really feel while putting on brave faces for those around them. Family Hospice offers this free one-day bereavement camp for children ages six to 12 and their parents/guardians who have experienced the death of a loved one. Registration is now open for this year, with Camp Healing Hearts scheduled for June 30 at Carlow University.

Family Hospice and Palliative Care welcomes grieving children and their family members to participate in Camp Healing Hearts, a free one-day bereavement camp. Camp Healing Hearts will be held Saturday, June 30 at Carlow University, 3333 Fifth Ave., Pittsburgh. Pre-registration is required.

As a community partner, Family Hospice and Palliative Care offers this free camp for children ages six to 12 and their parents/guardians who have experienced the death of a loved one (such as a parent, sibling, grandparent, other family member, or friend). Camp Healing Hearts gives a safe and supportive environment for children and families to express feelings, remember a loved one, develop coping skills and create bonds and friendships with others who have experienced a similar loss. Camp Healing Hearts is staffed by licensed professionals from Family Hospice and trained volunteers.

Camp Healing Hearts will take place from 9:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. and includes a continental breakfast and lunch. Throughout the day, children will participate in structured activities, including art, memory boxes, movement, music and pet therapy, as they remember their loved ones and learn healthy ways to grieve.

[Read more…]

Family Hospice Offers Free Camp Healing Hearts for Grieving Children

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Family Hospice and Palliative Care welcomes grieving children and their family members to participate in Camp Healing Hearts, a free one-day bereavement camp. Camp Healing Hearts will be held Sat., June 17 at Carlow University, 3333 Fifth Ave., Pittsburgh. Pre-registration is required.

As a community partner, Family Hospice and Palliative Care offers this free camp for children ages six to 12 and their parents/guardians who have experienced the death of a loved one (such as a parent, sibling, grandparent, other family member, or friend). Camp Healing Hearts gives a safe and supportive environment for children and families to express feelings, remember a loved one, develop coping skills and create bonds and friendships with others who have experienced a similar loss. Camp Healing Hearts is staffed by licensed professionals from Family Hospice and trained volunteers.

Camp Healing Hearts will take place from 9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. and includes a continental breakfast and lunch. Throughout the day, children will participate in structured activities, including art, memory boxes, movement, music and pet therapy, as they remember their loved ones and learn healthy ways to grieve. [Read more…]

Own Your End of Life Planning

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The only way to “own” your end-of-life experience is to talk about it.

The only way to “own” your end-of-life experience is to talk about it.

By Barbara Ivanko

“If you don’t talk about it, you don’t own it.”

These are the words of Dr. Nancy Snyderman, NBC News Medical Editor, when she addressed the National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization’s (NHPCO) annual Management and Leadership Conference at the end of March. She spoke to hospice professionals of varying disciplines from around the country during this annual event that takes place near Washington, D.C.

Dr. Snyderman expressed her belief in the importance of advanced care planning, going onto say: “Death is a part of life. You have to talk about what you want (and end of life) while you’re in your 20s, 30s, and 40s.”

Sharing stories from her own family, Dr. Snyderman explained the illness that her father experienced years ago – and how the family came together to access quality hospice care. Her father eventually improved, but the ordeal readied her family for the dying process. Dr, Snyderman also shared the fact that her daughter, a woman in her 20s, proactively documented her end-of-life wishes with her fiancé as they planned their wedding.

[Read more…]

Family Hospice and Palliative Care to Host Free Health Care Decision Making Seminar

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WHO: Family Hospice and Palliative Care and Zacharia & Brown, Elder Law Attorneys.

Family Hospice is Western Pennsylvania’s leading, nonprofit hospice provider. Serving the community since 1980, Family Hospice provides compassionate end-of-life care to 3,600 patients annually in nine Western Pennsylvania counties.

Zacharia & Brown is one of the oldest elder law firms in Western Pennsylvania. Zacharia & Brown focuses on assisting seniors and their families with various legal and financial issues, including life care planning, asset protection and Medicaid and veterans benefits eligibility.

WHAT: Free Health Care Decision Making seminar. Attendees will have the opportunity to speak directly with experts, who will offer advice and answer questions about living wills, health care power of attorney, health care advance directives and more.

Expert panel includes:

Dr. Christopher Hughes, Co-Chief Medical Officer, Family Hospice Christine Brown, Esq., Elder Law Attorney, Zacharia & Brown

WHEN: Wednesday, April 16, 2014, 6:30 – 8 p.m.
April 16 is National Health Care Decisions Day.

WHERE: Family Hospice and Palliative Care, auditorium
50 Moffett St., Pittsburgh, PA 15243 (Mt. Lebanon)

HOW: RSVP by April 14; call 412-572-8747 and leave your name and phone number. For more information, contact Christine Meduho, 412-398-1395 or cmeduho@familyhospice.com.

MORE: Dr. Hughes and Ms. Brown will be available to personally assist attendees in completing their health care advance directives.

Light refreshments will be served.

Family Hospice to Host Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction Course

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Family Hospice and Palliative Care President and CEO Barbara Ivanko, MSW, will conduct a seven-week course on “Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction” (MSBR), February 11 through April 1, at Family Hospice’s education center, 50 Moffett St., in Mt. Lebanon. Based on the acclaimed program developed at the University of Massachusetts Medical Center, these sessions are designed to teach participants how to reduce stress and anxiety, enhance good health and improve coping techniques. The best candidates for MBSR are motivated to take better care of themselves and draw upon their inner strengths for greater ease  of living.

Sessions will take place Tuesday evenings, 6:30-8:30 and include one half-day retreat on March 22. The $350 registration fee covers all sessions, the half-day retreat and related materials. All fees support the nonprofit mission of Family Hospice and Palliative Care. Space is limited. Please email memili@familyhospice.com to register. For more information, visit www.FamilyHospice.com.

Why Not?

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Sep13_FinalRule_ivanko headshot copyBy Barbara Ivanko

The photo in our local papers early this month brought a smile to my face. A woman from Green Tree named Marie celebrated her 104th birthday with a visit to Santa Claus. The photo showed Marie atop Santa’s lap at The Mall at Robinson – both of them smiling with joy.  This marked the sixth straight year that Marie spent her birthday with St. Nick.

At first glance of the photo, I instantly loved her spirit, her enthusiasm and her attitude. Marie took her place in line at the mall and made sure she enjoyed every minute of her visit.

And why not?
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Someone to Lean On

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Sep13_FinalRule_ivanko headshot copyBy Barbara Ivanko

“Lean on me when you’re not strong, and I’ll be your friend, I’ll help you carry on.

For it won’t be long, ‘til I’m gonna need somebody to lean on.”

—“Lean on Me”, Bill Withers, 1972

For parents, caring for your kids’ basic needs is part of life. Even for new parents, the routine gets familiar quickly – and then they spend the next 18 years or so caring for their “bundle of joy” in a variety of ways.

Raising our kids is something that many people may take for granted. But caring for another adult through the course of a life-limiting illness – that’s a whole other story.

The National Alliance for Caregiving reports that nearly one in three adults in the United States cares for a loved one who is sick, elderly, or has special needs. Think about that number: one in three. Chances are you know someone who is an adult caregiver. It could be a member of your family, a friend, neighbor, or co-worker.
[Read more…]

Bridging the Gaps

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Sep13_FinalRule_ivanko headshot copyBy Barbara Ivanko

Betty’s room is on the east side of the building. Betty cherished the early daylight pouring through her window, remembering her first morning here at the long term care facility, eight years ago. The morning sun through her window that long-ago day assured her that this was meant to be her home.

As a morning person, most days Betty would rise with the sun. When the weather was nice, she ventured outside, crossed the small bridge that spanned the courtyard pond, and enjoy the morning rays in the patio that she had come to frequent.

The past several months have not been quite as bright for Betty. Diagnosed at the beginning the year with congestive heart failure, she had begun lately to take in the sunrise from her room. As her mobility declined, Betty talked with her children and engaged the services of Family Hospice and Palliative Care. Her quality of life has been the number one priority of Betty’s family and her hospice care team. Morning sunrises are still on the to-do list.
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Family Hospice and Palliative Care to Hold Annual Memorial Walk on Oct. 6

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Pirates alumni and announcer Steve Blass to emcee 2013 Walk

Family Hospice and Palliative Care offers families and individuals the opportunity to remember loved ones in a special way at its Annual Memorial Walk on Sunday morning, October 6, at the North Shore Riverfront Park (next to Jerome Bettis’ Grille 36). The 3K Walk is open to the public.

“We invite people from the Greater Pittsburgh area to honor their loved ones at the Memorial Walk,” said Barbara Ivanko, President and CEO of Family Hospice and Palliative Care. “This is a family-friendly event in a beautiful setting – and we’re finding it has become an annual tradition for many.”

The $25 Memorial Walk registration fee includes a Walk T-shirt. Children age 12 and under walk free; and children’s T-shirts may be purchased for $10. Pets on a leash are welcome. Pittsburgh Pirates alumni and broadcaster Steve Blass will emcee the festivities.
[Read more…]

Celebrating Life

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Feb13_Customer Service_FrancoInsana copyBy Franco Insana

“Shall claim of death cause us to grieve, and make our courage faint and fall?
Nay! Let us faith and hope receive – the rose still grows beyond the wall.”
– The Rose Beyond the Wall, A.L. Frink

One of the uplifting aspects about hospice and end-of-life care is the fact that we celebrate our patients’ lives. Hospice provides enhanced quality of life, dignity and respect. And instead of mourning a patient’s death, the emphasis is on celebrating his or her life! Family Hospice and Palliative Care is proud to fulfill that mission.

About 20 family members gathered with Family Hospice staff at The Center for Compassionate Care in Mt. Lebanon on the afternoon of July 25. The sun was shining, the sky was blue – and although a reverent silence was prevalent, it was not due to mourning. Celebrating lives was the order of the day. Celebrating the lives of those who meant so much to the families who came together.
[Read more…]