Palliative care groups join forces
New campaign looks to offer support and care to more chronically ill patients
ALBANY, N.Y. >> Three of the Capital Region’s leading community service providers have teamed up to deliver medical and emotional care to chronically ill patients.
The Community Hospice, Eddy Visiting Nurse Association, and Palliative Care Partners have launched a $1.5 million campaign to fund palliative care services and integrate their programs in hopes of raising awareness about palliative care and tripling their patient outreach by providing personalized, comfortable care.
The integration of the three nonprofits will allow them to work more closely to ensure open communication and patient-centered care in any setting. A newly established palliative care service line through St. Peter’s Health Part-
ners is working with hospice care providers and visiting nurses to provide typical health services for the ill, as well as emotional support, a component that is invaluable in healthcare.
“We knew we needed to get services out into the community,” said Elizabeth Kirby Walsh, manager of palliative care services with St. Peter’s Health Partners. “They need that extra layer of support, which is what we provide.”
Palliative care is a specialized medical field aimed at relieving seriously ill patients of the symptoms, pain and stress of living with a serious or chronic illness, such as cancer, kidney disease, congestive heart failure or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. These services may be administered at any age and are available to patients and their families upon diagnosis.
Unlike hospice, palliative care is not deemed end- oflife care, and patients are encouraged and supported while pursuing treatment options such as chemotherapy and dialysis.
Palliative Care Partners works with about 2,000 patients in the area, divided between home-based and inpatient programs. The group offers inpatient services at four oncology offices in the Capital Region: St. Peter’s and Albany Memorial hospitals in Albany, Ellis Hospital in Schenectady and Samaritan Hospital in Troy.
The integration of homebased and inpatient care will help to spread awareness about the benefits of receiving such services. It is being developed over a three-year period, giving patients the opportunity to smoothly transition between different methods of care with the help of physicians, nurse practitioners, social workers and chaplains, according to Walsh.
Out of the office, the palliative care team works with visiting nurses to help patients with specific needs, such as wound care or challenges with symptoms that require them to be at home throughout their care. The team has also introduced a new advanced illness management program, which helps individuals who are not homebound and, though they may not have highly
specific needs, can still benefit from emotional support through their illness.
The Center to Advance Palliative Care reported that as of 2014, more than 6 million people in the United States who are living with a serious or chronic illness could benefit from palliative care services. Further, there were 1,700 hospitals nationally with an inpatient palliative care team, the majority of them located in larger nonprofit hospitals. Based on figures released by the American Hospital Association in 2015, 78.1 percent of hospitals in New York state had a palliative care team on staff, up from 57.9 percent in 2008, and most regions are expected to see more growth in coming years.
“Palliative care went from being nonexistent to being present in 90 percent of hospitals,” said Diane Meier, director of the Center to Advance Palliative Care.
Palliative care teams provide an added layer of care for those dealing with chronic illness, a unique approach to healthcare. One of the biggest hurdles when proposing palliative care, according to Meier, is the lack of education and understanding among both patients and physicians.
“Many physicians were educated before palliative care was a thing in the United States,” said Meier, “so they also are unclear about its advantages and what it’s good for.”
Meier and her staff work to develop research articles and case studies on the effects of palliative care and communicate with hospitals to expand their horizons and develop specialized programs. Through extensive research and outreach, Meier said palliative care has become a normal
practice in the majority of hospitals nationally, helping patients and families with the emotional and physical hardships of living with serious illness.
“Because of our interdisciplinary approach, the social worker can go into these homes and help identify some of the emotional support needs that they may have, but also help them with concrete needs, whether it is financial or legal issues, that will help them ease their transition,” said Walsh.
Physicians versed in palliative care are taught valuable skills not always touched upon in medical school, according to Meier, such as how to run family meetings and how to assess a patient’s goals with their care, as well as how to administer opiates safely.
The program bridges the gap between outside physicians, palliative care staff and patients to discuss information about available care options on an individual basis. They also extend counseling and spiritual services to caregivers who have to deal with the stress and emotional turmoil of watching a loved one battle a life-threatening illness.
“Patients who live with serious illnesses, such as cancer, heart failure and emphysema, are faced with multiple distressing symptoms and psychosocial challenges that also impact their families,” said Dr. George Giokas, palliative care director for Palliative Care Partners in a news release announcing the campaign.
Leaders at Palliative Care Partners take pride in their staff for its willingness to understand patients and their loved ones on a personal level to assess all their needs, a task not always fulfilled by physicians focused on treating specific and complex health concerns.
“There are warm handoffs between the groups because we really want it to be seamless for the patient,” said Walsh.
Medicare and Medicaid typically cover palliative care services for patients, and many other providers are also starting to cover patients as the services are becoming more readily available, according to Walsh, who believes this method of care should be available to anyone who can benefit.
“People are living longer, so they are being diagnosed and living with diseases for longer periods of time,” said Walsh, who noted the patients they see are not all in geriatric stages of care, ranging in age from 30 to seniors. The baby-boomer population, in particular, is sought out in palliative care, as almost 10,000 people are turning 65 every day, according to Meier.
Many patients and families who receive care send letters and make calls to thank Walsh and the palliative care team for their services.
“They’ll say, ‘ Why didn’t we meet you earlier?’ and they tell us all the time that we’ve made all the difference,” said Walsh.
The program hosted a sold-out gala April 1 at Rivers Casino & Resort in Schenectady to unveil the campaign and received numerous donations from about 500 guests who watched a short video that included the testimony of a patient who received services and has been active in speaking on the value of palliative care with medical professionals. Walsh said she hopes to do more events like this as the integrated campaign takes shape and expands its outreach in the future.
“I see patients who are better cared for,” said Walsh. “We want to focus on patients and families where they live, so that they can continue to live the best quality of life that they can have.”