How Ohio’s Hospice of Miami County Helps Caregivers

At Ohio’s Hospice of Miami County, our philosophy of care embraces family members, providing care for them along with hospice patients. We recognize that a life-limiting illness impacts everyone in the family circle. That’s why support for family caregivers is a major focus of our care and services.

In addition to providing caregiver education and resources to help caregivers who are attending to patients in the home, Ohio’s Hospice of Miami County offers:

• A nurse available by phone 24/7 to answer questions.
• Our extended-hours staff to assist when needed.
• Our trained volunteers who support caregivers with errands, household chores and more. Volunteers are friendly visitors who listen and provide emotional support. They can also sit with a patient to give caregivers a short break from their duties.
• Our Personal Care Specialists to help with patient care, including feeding, bathing, and personal grooming.
• Our social workers who provide emotional support for caregivers and identify community resources that can help meet family needs.
• Our chaplains to support family members and patients, respecting individual faith traditions and keeping the family connected with their faith community.
• Our grief support services, provided during patient care and in the months following the loss of a loved one.
• Our inpatient hospice care at Upper Valley Medical Center (and soon in our own Hospice House location) to enable more extended respite care for patients when caregivers need time to refresh or to attend to their own healthcare needs.

Our hospice team is attentive to the toll of caregiving and helps to make sure caregivers practice self-care. We can help develop strategies to assure caregivers:

• Maintain a sense of well-being
• Are getting the rest they need
• Are addressing their own health concerns
• Are getting a break when they need one

Most importantly, by delivering superior care and superior services our care can help caregivers spend more quality time with their loved one by sharing and easing the load caregivers face. Ohio’s Hospice of Miami County can assure that caregivers have the time and strength they need to spend precious time with seriously ill loved ones.