But Harbour Hospice care is available to anyone who needs specialist support at any stage of a life-limiting illness – and the earlier in a patient’s journey hospice can support them, the more it can do to help them live well in the place they call home with the people they love. Jan Nichols, Harbour Hospice chief executive shares, “We help prepare patients for death in many ways including through social work support, counselling, spiritual care and cultural support, complementary therapy, social connection through support groups, and of course specialist expert nursing and medical care. “But all of these services actually support people to live well and die well.
Most of our care is provided in people’s homes, where they feel most comfortable, through our community teams. And 74 percent of the people who come into our Inpatient Unit do so for respite care or symptom management – so they leave feeling better than when they came in.” One day it was the big, bright sunflowers that drew Elizabeth Apiata out of her Inpatient room and into the Harbour Hospice gardens.
The nurses couldn’t find her and searched up and down the hallways in mild panic. When Elizabeth wandered back in they made a sign for her to leave on her bed. ‘Gone for a walk in the garden’, it said.
And she started using it every day. When Elizabeth died a few months ago, she had been a patient with Harbour Hospice for well over a year. She said the support enabled her to focus on the things th.
