National Hospice & Palliative Care Month

November 2024

Every November, National Hospice and Palliative Care Month offers an opportunity to reflect on the profound impact these specialized services have on patients and their families. At Arkansas Hospice and Palliative Care, we take this time to both raise awareness about the critical role hospice and palliative care play in our communities, and to celebrate the compassionate efforts of our dedicated employees.

While hospice care supports individuals in the final stages of life, addressing physical, emotional, and spiritual needs, palliative care can be introduced at any stage of chronic or serious illness and may be provided alongside curative treatments. With 90 million Americans currently living with serious illness—a number expected to more than double over the next 25 years with the aging of the baby boomers—palliative care offers relief from symptoms, reduces hospital visits and readmissions, and improves quality of life with proven success in decreasing depression, symptom burden, and caregiver strain. 

Currently, 6,000,000 people in the United States could benefit from palliative care. Arkansas Palliative Care (APC), established in 2016, is at present serving 712 patients across inpatient and community-based care. Inpatient palliative care is available at St. Vincent’s Little Rock, St. Vincent’s Hot Springs, and Unity in Searcy. Community-based palliative care reaches aging Arkansans in over 35 counties with 17 contracted long-term care facilities. 

Despite its benefits, both hospice and palliative care are underutilized due to misconceptions. These services provide dignity, comfort, and support, helping patients and their families during challenging times. Palliative care is provided by a team of specialists that are hospice hearted, with 96% of palliative care patients discharging to hospice. Palliative care integrates advanced care planning with 98% of patients electing a decision-making surrogate. Its anticipatory guidance and specialty often facilitates a patient’s timely introduction and length of stay on hospice services. 

At Arkansas Hospice and Palliative Care, our interdisciplinary team—doctors, nurses, aides, social workers chaplains, bereavement specialists, support staff, and volunteers—are the backbone of our patient-centered care.

You each deserve recognition, especially during this month of November. We express our heartfelt gratitude to the exceptional staff of Arkansas Hospice and Palliative Care, whose dedication ensures no one faces the end of life alone or suffers needlessly. It is through these efforts that we continue to build trust with the families we serve, ensuring the highest standard of care during some of life’s most delicate moments.

Let’s continue to raise awareness about the importance of hospice and palliative care and together let’s celebrate the amazing professionals who make Arkansas Hospice and Palliative Care a place of hope, comfort, and compassion.

Be Well …

Arkansas Hospice Employee Wellness Council (EWC) Keeping you Well – Mind, Body, & Spirit

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