What’s Needed to Transform Care for Serious Illness? Start with Trust
Guest Blog
By J. Donald Schumacher, PsyD
National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization (NHPCO)
The men and women who care for the dying are special people. They ensure that people facing serious and life-limiting illness do so with support, dignity and compassion. They support families and help them step out of the shadow that death so often leaves. Nowhere in the world are there professionals or volunteers more proficient at providing high quality, patient and family-centered care at the end of life than our nation’s hospice and palliative care community.
As the experts, we must respond to the challenges and be willing to adapt to the changing world around us. Threats to reimbursement, regulatory scrutiny, quality mandates, growing competition, a more complex patient population and more… the stressors we face are many. And amidst all this, one of the most important tasks ahead of us is the creation of a more seamless continuum of care that is responsive to the needs of our aging society.
For some, there is a fear that organizational or industry-wide changes—whether initiated within our field or from external forces—seem to go against the values held dear by many of us. It is important to remember that many of us got into this work in the early years because we insisted that the care of the dying be done differently. We must tap into the strength and creativity that was once a mainstay in our community as we embrace the challenges of today.
In the face of change, what matters the most and what we can never take for granted is our commitment to providing quality care to patients and families. Ultimately, it all comes down to care at the bedside. That must never be forgotten.
From my vantage point of President and CEO of the National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization, I am fortunate to see working being done by a range of organizations in diverse communities throughout this country. I would like to offer some specific thoughts about what will be required from all of us as we continue to forge a seamless continuum of care:
- As a national community dedicated to caring for those with serious and life-limiting illness, we must be able to skillfully engage in respectful discourse that recognizes divergent opinions and points of view, but is always guided by the best interests of the patient and family we serve.
- The skills that brought many of us to this point in our history may not be enough to lead successfully in our changing society. It is critical that we develop strategies that will allow us to guide our organizations through the changing environment and prepare those who will lead in the future.
- It is critical that we identify innovative approaches that expand the reach of hospice and palliative care as we actively engage in the creation of a seamless continuum of care. As the recognized experts on palliative care in this country, hospice providers must be at the forefront of the development of the care continuum.
What I have described here requires more than perseverance and passion. It requires trust. Trust at the organizational level as well as trust among our broader national community.
If we allow our fears to keep us from exploring and embracing necessary change, or to become inert as an industry, we are not only hurting ourselves, but we are also hurting the many patients and families that desperately need the care and services that we are the best in the world at providing.
I have faith that we will continue to improve and expand on our ability to care for patients and families and our accomplishments of the past will only serve to inform all that we will accomplish in the future.
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For more information about hospice and palliative care, please click here.
J. Donald Schumacher serves as the president/CEO of NHPCO, the National Hospice Foundation, and FHSSA, and as president of the Hospice Action Network’s board of directors. In addition to his service at the national level, Dr. Schumacher was the president/CEO of The Center for Hospice and Palliative Care (Buffalo, NY) from 1989 to 2002, and president/CEO of Hospice West (Waltham, MA) from 1978 to 1989. He was also the founder and president of one of the country’s first HIV/AIDS hospices, The Hospice of Mission Hill (Boston, MA).
