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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: 07/02/2020
Greencastle, Indiana. National Healthcare Decisions Day (NHDD) is usually on April 16th, the day after tax returns are due. However, since the income tax filing deadline was postponed this year until July 15, NHDD was also postponed to July 16. The date was inspired by Benjamin Franklin’s quip that “nothing in life is certain but death and taxes.”
NHDD exists to educate and empower the public and providers about the importance of advance care planning and completing advance directives such as a healthcare representative and a living will. Tammy Hunter, board member of the Putnam County Hospice and Palliative Care Association (PCHPCA) commented, “It is important for all adults in all stages of life and health to discuss and document their healthcare wishes in case they suffer an accident or medical event and cannot speak for themselves.”
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: 07/02/2020
Greencastle, Indiana. Putnam County Hospice and Palliative Care Association (PCHPCA) announced the launching of its refreshed website, www.pchpca.org. The website features expanded information on hospice, palliative care, and advance care planning designed for the general public, healthcare professionals, and trusted advisors.
“We are excited about the tools and resources provided in the updated website,” said Elaine Peck, Director of PCHPCA. “Our goals were to offer a user-friendly, mobile-friendly, search friendly, one-stop shop for all issues related to improving the end-of-life experience for patients, families, caregivers, and healthcare professionals in Putnam County. We welcome your comments, suggestions, and questions.”
Putnam County Hospice and Palliative Care Association (PCHPCA) is a nonprofit, charitable organization that has joined national, state, and community efforts to increase the quality of the end-of-life experience for patients, loved ones, caregivers, and the healthcare community in Putnam County. PCHPCA is partially supported by The Putnam County Community Foundation and the Putnam County Hospital. For additional information, contact Elaine Peck, Director, at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or 765.301.7614.
LETTER TO THE EDITOR
Human beings struggle with change. Communal rituals help us frame the changes we are going through and provide opportunities for insight that can help us have a smoother transition and gain support from our family, friends, and community. Coping with death is one of the most difficult of life’s milestones to navigate.
Due to social distancing and quarantine during the COVID-19 pandemic, we see the sudden development of being unable to join together in person for funerals, memorial services, wakes, calling hours, sitting Shiva, etc. When a death occurs due to COVID-19, family members have often been denied the opportunity to be with their loved one at the time of death. Rituals that have sustained us in our respective cultures for thousands of years have been eliminated in a matter of weeks.
Greencastle, Indiana. COVID-19 has caused healthcare facilities and hospice providers to at least temporarily change their care practices. There are new limits on who can care for patients. New ways to care for patients. New ways to help families say goodbye. New ways to help people grieve. Lisa Miller, President of the Putnam County Hospice and Palliative Care Association, stated, “It is important for people to understand this new reality as they cope with serious illnesses.”
The hospice care tradition is to surround a dying patient with loving visitors and professionals, and to focus on pain management, comfort, and peace at the end of life. Hospice is meant to address not only physical care, but also the substantial emotional, social, and spiritual needs that arise as death approaches.
Hospice providers must now minimize visitations and utilize masks and gloves and other personal protection equipment. Visits to patients in long-term care facilities, where about a third of hospice patients reside, are limited. Before COVID-19, a team of professionals would see patients in nursing homes. Now, only nurses may visit, and the frequency of in-person visits are limited. Social work, chaplaincy, and other services are provided by phone. Visits by nurses to hospice patients in the home have also been limited and are augmented with phone and virtual contacts.
Greencastle, Indiana. The Putnam County Hospice and Palliative Care Association reminds everyone that for many, social distancing has created some space and time that could wisely be used to have advance healthcare planning conversations and develop advance care directives. Information and forms can be found on the Indiana State Department of Health Advance Directives Resource Center at www.isdh.gov.
Everyone 18 years of age and older should have an up-to-date healthcare representative, which identifies a person you choose to receive healthcare information and make healthcare decisions for you if you become unable to do so. It is recommended that you consider choosing a secondary healthcare representative in case your primary representative is unable to serve. If you have a healthcare representative directive, review it today and be sure it is up-to-date. If you don’t have one, choose a healthcare representative and talk with that person about your values and wishes.
Greencastle, Indiana. Putnam County Hospice and Palliative Care Association (PCHPCA) announced 2020 National Healthcare Decisions Day on April 16th. The theme is “Speaking Up for Your Care”. If you became seriously ill, would the people who matter most to you really know what matters to you?
“Speaking Up for Your Care,” continues the Association’s work to increase discussions about advanced care planning in Putnam County. A growing number of residents are having conversations clarifying what they would want most. Speaking up about the kind of care we want also means telling those closest to us what we’d want if we couldn’t make decisions for ourselves. When we share our values, preferences and wishes with our doctors and loved ones, we’re part of the team that helps us get the right care for us. We have a right to have a say in our care.
Greencastle, Indiana. The Board of the Putnam County Hospice and Palliative Care Association (PCHPCA) announced that it will offer free Advanced Care Planning (ACP) Facilitator training for practitioners in Putnam County. The training includes completion of online education modules as well as an in-person day of education. Continuing education credits will be offered for various professions. The in-person portion of the training will be held on September 30, 2020 at the Putnam County Hospital. Space is limited, and PCHPCA will be accepting applications to attend the training.
“Advance care planning is important for all adults at all stages of life and health and is an important part of routine, high-quality healthcare,” said Elaine Peck, Director of PCHPCA. Peck stated that the Advance Care Planning (ACP) Facilitator is a growing role in healthcare. ACP Facilitators are instrumental in helping individuals and their loved ones become more engaged in person-centered healthcare decision-making. When integrated into the primary care or community setting early in the course of healthcare, ACP discussions help normalize the concept of planning.
Greencastle, Indiana. Putnam County Hospice and Palliative Care Association (PCHPCA) announced its 2020 board of directors. The all-volunteer Board of Directors has members representing health care providers, extended care facilities, funeral homes, the faith community, hospice providers, caregivers, and others committed to the PCHPCA mission.
2020 officers are: Lisa Miller, President; Charity Pankratz, Vice-President; J Miranda, Secretary; and John Savage, Treasurer. 2020 board members are: Robert Allen, Jinsie Bingham, Paul Champion, Tasheena Duncan, Susan Gick, Tammy Hunter, Jared Jernagan, Lana Nascimbene, Brand Selvia, Jeannie Stinson-McLean, and Jacob Whitaker. Elaine Peck joined the PCHPCA as Director in November 2019.
Putnam County Hospice and Palliative Care Association (PCHPCA), along with other national, state and community organizations, are leading a massive effort to highlight the importance of advance healthcare decision-making—an effort that has culminated in the formal designation of April 16 as National Healthcare Decisions Day (NHDD). As a participating organization, PCHCPA is providing information and tools for the public to talk about their wishes with family, friends and healthcare providers, and execute written advance directives (healthcare representative and living will) in accordance with Indiana state laws. These resources are available at pchpca.org
On April 15th the public is invited to National Healthcare Decisions Day Brown Bag Lunch and Learn at Putnam County Hospital from 12 noon to 1pm in the 3rd floor classrooms. On April 16, from 10 to 4, Putnam County Hospice and Palliative Association, is welcoming the public throughout the day at Putnam County Hospital with free information about advance care planning and advance directive forms.
Often opportunities to plan ahead are put aside with the intent that time will always be available tomorrow. Unfortunately, tomorrow may have its own agenda and not the one you planned. A sudden medical event or a chronic debilitating condition can take away your freedom to make future health care decisions. That is why taking action today is so important. April 16th was National Healthcare Decisions Day, a day that exists to remind everyone about the importance of taking time to think about and share your medical care and treatment preferences should you be unable to speak for yourself. Engaging in the process of Advance Care Planning is the opportunity that influences the end-of-life medical care and treatment decisions that affect you. Taking the time to exercise your freedom to choose what end-of-life care and treatment decisions you desire will relieve this burden from your loved ones. In addition, the medical team assigned to your care and treatment will be more prepared to meet your expectations. We encourage you to plan ahead and exercise your freedom to voice your healthcare decisions while you are still able to speak for yourself. For more information visit our website, www.pchpca.org.
Thank you,
Joni Perkins, DON @PCH
Danielle Franklin, RN
Sharon Nicoson, MSN, ACNP
John Savage, MD
Tammy Hunter
Professional Education Committee
Putnam County Hospice & Palliative Care Association
Greencastle, Indiana. "Before I Die" is an interactive public art project that invites people to share their personal aspirations in a public space.
The original wall was created by artist Candy Chang after she lost someone she loved. In February 2011, she created the first wall on an abandoned house in New Orleans. She painted the side of the house with chalkboard paint and stenciled the sentence "Before I die I want to _." Within 24 hours the wall was covered with her neighbors' dreams and wishes for their lives. Since then the wall has been recreated in more than 73 countries and Before I Die has been translated in more than 16 languages.
Putting up her response to "Before I Die ..." on the wall at Vine and Poplar streets is Tammy Hunter, director of the Putnam County Hospice and Palliative Care Association. The wall will remain up through the end of April.
From: State of the Castle (WGRE) - April 12, 2019
State of the Castle, interviews the Putnam County Hospice and Palliative Care Association. Director Tammy Hunter and President Julianne Miranda discuss National Health Care Decisions Day on this half-hour news show.
April 16th is National Healthcare Decisions Day (NHDD). Nathan Kottkamp, the Founder and Chair of National Healthcare Decisions Day, saw the need for creating a day to discuss healthcare decisions after serving on several hospital ethics committees and being repeatedly confronted with distressful end of life situations. Families, providers, and hospital administrators struggled to interpret the wishes of patients who never made their healthcare wishes known or failed to complete an advance directive to record their stated wishes. Both the loved one and their families suffered undue burden because wishes and needs were not written and shared.
From Facebook:
City of Greencastle · April 16, 2018
Today is Healthcare Decision Day in Greencastle. Here’s some important information about why you need to plan your healthcare decisions in advance, particularly in the event you are unable to speak for yourself.
From Banner Graphic Newspaper
Friday, November 17, 2017
LETTER TO THE EDITOR
November is National Hospice and Palliative Care Month. There seems to be confusion and misunderstandings about what these terms mean.
From Banner Graphic Newsletter
Friday, November 17, 2017
LETTER TO THE EDITOR
I write to bring community attention to the services of an incredible community resource that is not often in the public spotlight -- hospice care.
I was truly blessed during the illness and recent passing of my husband, Bill Jackson, to have had a wonderful team from Intrepid Hospice who shared that journey.
While the death of a loved one is immeasurably sad, much of the pain and anxiety of that time was made bearable by our “team” which consisted of nurses and aides, as well as a doctor, social worker and chaplain who were available to us through regularly scheduled visits as well as 24-7 as needed.
From Greencastle Banner Graphic - Thursday, February 16, 2017
Greencastle, Indiana. A free screening and discussion of the PBS Frontline film “Being Mortal,” based on the best-selling book by Dr. Atul Gawande of Harvard Medical School, is scheduled for 7 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 23 at Putnam County Hospital.
The film is credited with sparking national conversation that brings medical professionals and community members together to discuss what matters most to patients and families facing difficult treatment decisions and how to have such conversations ahead of a medical crisis.
Presented in the third-floor classrooms at PCH, the film is sponsored by the Putnam County Hospice and Palliative Care Association and Putnam County Hospital.
For more information, persons may contact Tammy Hunter at 655-2524.
From Greencastle Banner Graphic - Thursday, February 16, 2017
To the Editor:
November is National Hospice and Palliative Care Awareness Month. November is also a time when families get together for holiday celebrations. That makes November a great opportunity to have discussions about what matters, in life, in health, but also in sickness and end of life.
Last February I was hired to work as the director of Putnam County Hospice and Palliative Care Association, I have learned about this expanding movement across America. The association’s mission is “to enhance the quality of life and reduce suffering by increasing the number of Putnam County residents who experience the benefits of utilizing hospice and palliative care services, through education of medical care providers and residents of Putnam County, and by providing support, care coordination, and navigational resources.” We hope to raise awareness about hospice services and the need for conversations about end of life care.
To the Editor:
November is National Hospice and Palliative Care Month, a time to raise awareness about the compassionate care offered by hospice and palliative care providers. In and around Putnam County there are multiple hospice and healthcare providers, all focusing on the comfort and dignity of those coping with a serious or life-limiting illness. Hospice professionals and trained volunteers provide expert care to keep patients comfortable and informed.
The National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization (NHCPO.org) research findings indicate eight out of 10 Americans would want to be cared for in their homes if facing a life-limiting illness. Hospice makes this happen and almost 70 percent of patients receive care in their place of residence.
Whether it’s the family home, nursing home, residential facility, or hospice inpatient setting, hospice teams are available to patients and families wherever compassionate end-of-life care is needed. Palliative care brings these same skilled services earlier in the course of an illness and can be provided along with other treatments a patient may want to pursue.
Greencastle, Indiana. On Thursday, Nov. 3 from 11 a.m.-1 p.m. the Putnam County Hospice and Palliative Care Association (PCHPCA) will host the program “What Matters?” for Faith Communities. The program is a free luncheon for pastors and lay leaders to discuss what resources are available for their congregants regarding advance care directives, care during a serious illness and end-of-life issues. The PCHPCA will also provide information and helpful tools to encourage initiating these discussions before they are needed. The luncheon will be held at the Putnam County Hospital in classrooms 2 and 3 on the third floor. Persons are asked to RSVP to Tammy Hunter at 655-2524 by Oct. 28.
Putnam County Hospital
1542 S. Bloomington Street
Greencastle, IN 46135
T: 765.301.7614
E: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
