PALLIATIVE CARE SERVICE CHANGES DUE TO PANDEMIC

In recognition of National Hospice Palliative Care week (May 4-10), we wanted to advise your readers of some of the changes the pandemic is causing in the services provided by the Hospice Palliative Care Society of Cape Breton County.

So much has changed over the last several weeks, offering new challenges for all of us. We know that losing a loved one is never easy. That is why we have been there to provide support to individuals and families for the past 33 years. However, due to the current COVID-19 pandemic, the support we are able to provide looks very different.

Working in partnership with the Palliative Care Service, we identify and meet the holistic needs of patients and their families, whether they are at home, in long-term care, in the An Cala Unit or other areas of the Cape Breton Regional Hospital and hospitals in surrounding communities. We have a dedicated network of volunteers in all local hospitals who are normally at work providing baked goods, delivering flowers or offering a sympathetic ear. Our music therapist visits patients at home or in hospital to help weave the musical memories of their lives into legacy projects that bring comfort and care.

Not surprisingly, in light of physical distancing requirements, we are temporarily unable to provide these services. We also know that the requirements restricting visitors is making this time even more difficult.

On the An Cala Unit, the Nova Scotia Health Authority has outlined several directives. If an individual is stable, no visitors are permitted as it is throughout all hospital settings. If the individual is approaching end of life, one person can be identified and is allowed to visit. However, there are no switching visitors. It must be the same person consistently visiting the unit. If they are in the final hours of life, a second person can be identified and can also visit.

We know that all you want to do is be there to hold your loved one's hand. These extraordinary circumstances are preventing us from doing what is instinctual. Sometimes it is hard to reconcile that it is in our collective best interests, but this virus has proven its might, and we cannot overestimate it.

Please be assured that our Family Assistance Fund is available to meet the unique medical, emotional or spiritual needs of individuals and families in the care of the Service at home or in hospital. If there is something needed during this difficult time, please let a health-care professional in the Palliative Care Service know. Similarly, the dedicated staff of the Service will also advise us if they identify any special or medical need that cannot be met through provincial healthcare. We will do our best to ensure your needs are met.

We look forward to the time when this difficult time is behind us. We can only hope it allows each of us to appreciate, more than ever, how very precious every moment is.

Patricia Jackson and Irene Khattar

Co-chairs

Hospice Palliative Care Society of Cape Breton County