2013 Daffodil Days Benefits Presbyterian Home Healthcare and Hospice

Daffodil Days benefits Presbyterian Home Healthcare, which includes Home Care, Palliative Care and Hospice Services. Presbyterian Home Healthcare's services are available 24 hours a day, seven days a week, serving patients from Algodones to Belen and from Rio Rancho to Moriarty. These services together offer peace and dignity to patients and their families at a very difficult but special time. Following is the story of one of our Home Healthcare patients.

"The Foundation has helped hundreds of my patients who need financial assistance," Teresa, Presbyterian's Home Healthcare Clinical Social Worker of 18 years, says. Here is one of her stories.

When clinical social worker Teresa made a home visit to recently discharged Olivia, she found her frustrated and depressed. Olivia had missed the deadline to reapply for monthly food stamps while she was in the hospital. Teresa found several cans of food from a local food bank in the pantry, but they were not in compliance with the new diet and certainly not enough for even one meal. Olivia was feeling hopeless.

Teresa explained that the Presbyterian Healthcare Foundation has a fund for just such situations--a fund designed to assist patients with financial hardships, particularly to pay for utility bills, food coupons, and Lifeline. When Teresa assured Olivia that she would request food vouchers, deliver then the next day and that Olivia could use her $150 for special foods, she started to cry. Olivia said it was a miracle.

"The Foundation funding helps to reduce the fear and anxiety that patients in financial need often experience," Teresa says. "As a result, patients can concentrate on getting well."

Teresa adds, "Thank you to the Foundation for touching so many lives and making a difference in the quality of care that we can provide every day."

About Home Healthcare Services

Home care provides individualized, intermittent and medically-necessary services to homebound patients. A team of professionals closely monitor our patients' condition and progress, reporting to their primary care physician and modifying treatment if necessary. These healthcare professionals include nurses, physical, occupational and speech therapists, medical social workers and home health aides.

Services include physician-led House Calls, Telehealth monitoring via phone or internet and Hospital at Home, Presbyterian Health Plan's exclusive program offering hospital-level care at home within a 25 mile radius of the three Albuquerque area hospitals. Additional services include women's and children's high-risk care, would care, cardiac and orthopedic rehabilitation and infusion therapy.

Palliative Care Consult Services

Palliative Care Consult services are provided to patients and families to relieve suffering physically, psychologically, spiritually, socially and practically. These interdisciplinary services are for patients diagnosed with serious life-limiting illnesses, and are led by palliative-trained physicians. Working as a team with hospitalists, primary care providers and other physicians, palliative care is available both in hospital and in outpatient situations.

Presbyterian Hospice Services

The Presbyterian Hospice Program provides physical, emotional and spiritual support to terminally ill patients and their families. Board certified and fellowship trained physicians oversee clinical care and are on-call day and night. Hospice trained nurses assist in pain and symptom management, helping to maintain the physical comfort of patients whenever necessary. Hospice chaplains, medical social workers, home health aides and volunteers provide additional support during this most difficult time for patients and their families.

Hospice care can take place in our hospitals, in-patient unit, long-term nursing facilities, independent and assisted living communities, or private residences--wherever "home" might be. Hospice need not be the final choice for patients or their families, as some in hospice care actually do better and "graduate" because of the additional care and support.

Find out more about Presbyterian Healthcare Foundation and Daffodil Days, or get your flowers at any of the many convenient sales locations. You may also call us at (505) 724-6580.

To learn more about Presbyterian Home Healthcare and Hospice call (505) 559-1000 or go to www.phs.org.