November is recognized as National Hospice and Palliative Care Month, making it an important time to raise awareness about hospice and palliative care. At MorseLife, we understand that discussions about hospice care can often feel overwhelming. Many families grapple with misinformation or a lack of understanding about what hospice entails. In times of serious illness, figuring out the right type of care for a loved one can be daunting, leaving families feeling disorganized and uncertain about the next steps.

While this phase of life can be intensely challenging, hospice care can be about much more than physical comfort and medical support. It’s also a time to reflect, celebrate, and preserve the moments that define a life. Exceptional hospice care should include top-notch medical support and life-enriching services for patients and their families, such as specialty therapies, grief support, and emotional and spiritual guidance.

At MorseLife Hospice, we are committed to providing patients in Palm Beach County with the highest standard of care and comfort, valuing the dignity and legacy of each individual and their families. With our 40-year history of compassionate service to the community, MorseLife has reshaped the standard of excellence for end-of-life care, offering innovative and life-enriching programs and a unique approach to personalized hospice care.

The best care requires an interdisciplinary team of professionals who can work together seamlessly on a patient’s behalf. Quality hospice programs will employ physicians, nurses, hospice aides, medical social workers, spiritual care counselors, and bereavement coordinators who work together to improve each patient’s symptoms and quality of life.

MorseLife offers various traditional palliative care services, such as pain management and care coordination, led by highly skilled healthcare teams. It also offers unique signature programs like the Mitzvah Sensory Care program, rooted in the Jewish tradition of Bikur Cholim, which means “to visit and extend aid to the sick.” This program incorporates holistic sensory techniques to soothe the whole person. Patients engage in meditation and music experiences and receive soothing grooming and massage with scented oils and a compassionate touch.

Another important aspect of hospice is helping families create lasting memories and meaningful connections.

The ‘Cherishing Life’s Journey’ program was recently introduced at MorseLife, allowing patients to honor their memories and share their legacies with loved ones. Through tailored programs, we help patients capture their unique stories in various ways, from creating personalized keepsakes to recording life stories and fulfilling long-held wishes with virtual reality.

One of these is My Treasure Chest, where patients create cards, videos, and gifts for future milestones like birthdays, weddings, and anniversaries, ensuring their presence is felt in the hearts of their loved ones even after they’re gone. Patients can also create their own music or music timelines to share with loved ones, develop an on-screen legacy with photos and videos, or even pen their autobiographies with the caring support of the hospice team.

Families and patients need a great deal of support during this difficult time. Patients don’t want to feel alone, while families want to be included in the caregiving process and may need someone to turn to when their emotions become overwhelming.

MorseLife engages with family through a mobile communication app to support this connection. The app keeps families informed with real-time updates on their loved one’s care.

Comprehensive hospice programs, such as MorseLife Hospice, offer a range of bereavement counseling services, from one-on-one counseling to support groups, helping individuals make emotional and psychological adjustments.

Stephanie Frazier, Senior Vice President of Housing at MorseLife Health System’s Tradition Luxury Assisted Living, was honored recently as the 2023 Assisted Living Facility Administrator of the Year by the Florida Health Care Association (FHCA).

Stephanie’s leadership, creativity, and innovative thinking skills have improved efficiency and operational excellence at the Tradition. She is known for fostering a strong sense of community and enhanced communication and collaboration and personally invests in each employee’s growth and development.

The award, presented in front of more than 800 long-term care professionals during FHCA’s 2023 Annual Conference in Orlando, is the highest honor given to an assisted living facility administrator in Florida’s long-term care profession.

Frazier has been with MorseLife Health System for over eight years. She started as the Memory Care Assisted Living Director before expanding her role to oversee the Levin Palace Independent Living, Tradition Assisted Living, Memory Care Assisted Living, Resnick Assisted Living, and all of the center’s support services.

We are extremely proud of Stephanie for being recognized with this significant honor. Congratulations Stephanie!

MorseLife Hospice & Palliative Care Offers Music Therapy to Relieve Pain, Anxiety and Improve Daily Living

The knowledge that music has healing properties is at least as old as the writings of the ancient Greek Philosophers, Aristotle and Plato. However, it wasn’t until after World War Two that music therapy was officially established as an allied health profession.

Today at MorseLife, we continue to recognize the tremendous mental and physical benefits of music therapy to our hospice and palliative care patients, integrating it into patient care whenever feasible. Defined as evidence-based interventions to accomplish goals within a therapeutic relationship, music therapy addresses the physical, emotional, cognitive, and spiritual needs of both patients and their families.

Music therapy can help decrease pain, reduce agitation, address respiratory distress, and decrease anxiety for patients living with a chronic or terminal illness. Music therapy can also be a non-threatening way to encourage life review and expression of feelings relating to the patient’s prognosis as well as provide the patient and family opportunities for meaningful and positive interaction.

No matter where we’re from or what language we speak, each of us has a soundtrack of songs that connects us to former versions of ourselves, which is why MorseLife encourages a patient-centered approach to music therapy. Hearing a song with lyrics that describe how we’re feeling in any given moment can be a cathartic experience that allows us to release emotions we may not have even realized were present within us.

Patients often become active participants in the therapeutic process, sharing stories and information about their lives intertwined with song. This can help facilitate a sense of closure and allow them to find meaning in their existence. Likewise, the soothing nature of rhythm and tempo combined with the timbre of a human voice or musical instrument can bring someone back to homeostasis when they’re in pain or distress.

Music therapy can also be a powerful way to create a legacy for a patient’s family members. Whether it’s through songwriting, compiling a playlist of the patient’s favorite songs, recording a video, or documenting their heartbeat, we can provide something tangible for families to hold onto.

Does Marijuana Have a Place in Hospice?

MorseLife Hospice and Palliative Care study and benefits of a patient-centric approach to hospice care, including the integration of medical marijuana to alleviate suffering and despair cited in recent article

 

In 2019, MorseLife Hospice and Palliative Care conducted an online survey to find out more about people’s beliefs and attitudes towards end-of-life care. One of the top insights gleaned from the survey was the overwhelming support of medical marijuana. The study cited that 87% of Americans support the use of medical marijuana as a treatment option for terminally ill patients, with nearly three in five Americans (58%) expressing strong support of it.

A recent story written by Kate-Madonna Hindes, “Does Marijuana Have a Place in Hospice?” cites this statistic and the increasing interest hospice programs are taking in offering patients palliative care therapies and alternative medical therapies, such as medical marijuana.

“Massage, music, art and alternative therapies all play a part in creating a meaningful end-of-life experience for patients and families,” notes MorseLife Health System President and CEO Keith Myers. “At MorseLife we are leading the way and providing our patients a dignified end-of-life experience through one-of-a-kind research and care. It is promising to see a growing interest in this topic. People need to know that they have choices.”

The story also touches on the “political limbo” many hospice programs find themselves in due to legal status, clinical safety and societal influence.

MorseLife is currently leading the only pilot program approved by the Florida Legislature to study medical marijuana use in elder adults. Residents who are part of the program have reported using fewer opiates, anti-anxiety drugs and sleep medications when using cannabis.

“The findings from our pilot study will help guide protocols for usage in other hospice care settings across the country,” added Myers. “Our hope is that the research done at MorseLife will open doors to new care methods, ensuring that more Americans receive the best end-of-life care possible.”

 MORSELIFE HOSPICE AND PALLIATIVE CARE SURVEY FINDINGS REVEAL ATTITUDES ABOUT MEDICAL MARIJUANA, RELIGION AND END-OF-LIFE CARE

MorseLife Hospice and Palliative Care recently conducted an online survey to find out more about people’s beliefs and attitudes towards end-of-life care. The top three insights included overwhelming support of medical marijuana, opinions on religion when dealing with a life-limiting illness and overall understanding of hospice care. 

The results of the survey will help MorseLife determine which aspects of hospice care need the most public attention and identify opportunities to raise awareness throughout the greater community. 

The survey found that 87% of Americans support the use of medical marijuana as a treatment option for terminally ill patients, with nearly three in five Americans (58%) expressing strong support. 

Interestingly, the hospice care study also revealed that if they were terminally ill and enrolled in hospice care, nearly three quarters of Americans (72%) feel it would be important to have access to a religious leader of their faith for spiritual guidance during their hospice care.

MorseLife was recently selected to participate in a pilot study on the use of medical marijuana as an alternative treatment to manage pain. Its hospice program is the only program in Palm Beach County offered by an organization with a history of serving the Jewish community.

Findings show that many Americans are unsure or incorrect about key aspects of hospice care including purpose, length of care and costs. For example, nearly half of Americans (48%) are not aware that hospice is covered by insurance, while 40% of Americans incorrectly believe that the sole purpose of hospice is to sedate terminally ill patients to provide pain/anxiety relief. 

 

The survey also found that 58% of Americans have not discussed their end-of-life care preferences with anyone in the event they become terminally ill, including almost half (45%) of those aged 65 and older who say they have not discussed it. 

While hospice care is a difficult subject for many, there are many innovative services available through hospice, like palliative care, and art, music and massage therapy, that can improve lives. People need to know that these services are within their reach.

# # #