Amy Tribbett was introduced by Karl Schroeder.
Ms. Tribbett, the executive director of Hospice of Anchorage, opened by reminding us that most people spend more time planning their next vacation than they do planning for their end of life. Today 80% of Americans say they would prefer to die at home but only 25% do. Planning can increase the odds that you will have the passing you want. People do not contact hospice until very close to the end. The average duration of hospice service is 3 days. A longer involvement by hospice would be beneficial for most patients.
Hospice of Anchorage was formed in 1980 and is the only nonprofit of the four hospice service providers. People often think of hospice as a facility but in Anchorage that is not the case. All providers come to the patient wherever they are be it home, hospital or long-term care facility. Some medical insurers have rules for hospice that complicate end-of-life care. Some examples of this are Medicare requires that a person have a diagnosis that death will occur in 6 months or less and this is often not a realistic question for healthcare providers. Another is once the patient is in a hospice program they cannot receive treatment for their underlying illness. Many of these complications are avoided by using the nonprofit hospice provider. These are also good examples as to why consulting with multiple hospice providers well in advance of the end of life will insure you have the best fit with your provider. Tribbett recommends talking to all the local providers before making a selection.
Hospice of Anchorage maintains a supply of lendable or free books, medical equipment, incontinence supplies and dementia tool kits. She shared an anecdote of a dementia client who had been unresponsive to caregivers until he was shown a simple pinwheel from the dementia care kit. She recounted, “It was like a light went on,” and the patient showed interest for the first time in days.
Among the things Hospice of Anchorage offers are services, such as grief consoling, to the survivors for 12 months following the death of the client. (editors note: Grief consoling is a service initially recognized, organized and moderated by AIR past president/funeral director Fred Kehl in the 1960’s)