hospice benefits Archives

Compassionate Care

July 19, 2019 by Elizabeth Neufeld

TRU Community Care provides services that affirm life at every step of your journey with illness and loss. Often times it is not an easy task to know which service will best support you and your loved one’s needs. TRU is devoted to providing not only excellent care but also the consultation needed to choose the best service possible.

Jennifer (Nurse Practitioner), Michael (Patient Care Consultant), and Cynthia (Palliative Nurse), and Chad (Director of Access and Palliative Services), among other TRU Community Care employees, recently had the opportunity to assist a couple through their decision over whether palliative care or hospice care would be the right choice for the husband. At an already challenging time, the couple was actually homeless when the husband was referred to TRU Palliative Care. He was considering his options and trying to decide if he wanted to continue to seek treatment, wavering back and forth between palliative care and hospice.

The TRU team collaborated to find ways to best serve this patient and his wife. They spent hours working on identifying resources to help the couple get back on their feet and make the best choice possible. During this time, the patient made the decision to be admitted to hospice the following Sunday.

The team worked hard to provide the additional support needed to give the patient a few more days to connect with resources to find a permanent housing solution. This enabled the couple the time and space to make the decision between admitting him to TRU Palliative Care versus TRU Hospice Care without the additional burden and concern for housing.

Chad, Director of Access and Palliative Services, relayed the story, concluding, “Ultimately, the patient decided on Sunday that he still wanted to seek treatment and enrolled with TRU Palliative Care. We look forward to continuing to serve him and his family.”

At TRU Community Care, we pride ourselves in engaging our communities with innovative, resourceful, and meaningful care for those living with illness and loss. We are a Colorado-licensed, Medicare and Medicaid-certified, nonprofit health care organization serving the greater Boulder, Broomfield, Adams, Jefferson, and Weld Counties.

Learn more about TRU Services by visiting our website at https://www.trucare.org/our-services/.

Read more TRU Community Care blog posts at https://www.trucare.org/blog/.

A Day in the Life with Heidi, a Therapy Dog

May 9, 2019 by Elizabeth Neufeld

On a cold and dreary April morning, Heidi, a shiny-eyed Golden Retriever, is ready for the task she feels made for. Her vigilance for the patients at TRU Community Care’s in-patient Care Center at Longmont United Hospital is unmatched. Heidi has found her joy and ultimate purpose in providing the care needed to support the patients and their loved ones. Every visit she brings a ray of sunshine onto the unit, as she struts off the elevator, ready for the task at hand.

TRU Community Care has provided pet therapy services to patients since 2010, and Heidi has been one of their star volunteers for several years. On this particular Tuesday morning, Heidi is going to be visiting with three patients. She pokes her nose into the first patient’s room without hesitation and then quickly backs up and retreats before Heidi’s human companion, Beth Risdon, can assess the situation. The patient is sleeping and Heidi seems to know that she isn’t needed in that room, or at least not yet.

Heidi looks to Beth, as Beth inquires with the nursing staff as to which patients Heidi should visit with next. As if she understands English, Heidi is up and walking toward room number 5 before the nurses have even finished giving Beth some details on the patient.

Heidi wags her tail as she walks down the hall, eagerly anticipating the visit ahead. Beth knocks and Heidi wags gently at the door. Together they walk in to approach the patient who is sitting facing the cloudy skies out of the window.

Without missing a beat, Heidi walks right up to the patient, who eagerly scratches her head and coos at her. She takes it all in and seems to know that this is what life is all about. After having immersed herself in the love and healing energy of Heidi, the patient looks up to see Beth standing there and begins to tell a story about her two dogs, one of which only knew French commands.

Heidi’s beginnings were on a farm in Nebraska. Her human got sick when Heidi was about two and had to abandon all the animals on the farm. She quickly found herself adopted by Beth’s family in Longmont, Colorado. It was shortly after Beth’s family brought her home that they realized that Heidi possessed the qualities of a great therapy dog. After some time, Heidi started going on walks with a group of retired me who all worked together at IBM, now retired. Bernie, their neighbor, comes to get Heidi and take her on these walks every day except Sunday for a 3.5 mile loop. Heidi is very aware that this walk is a part of her routine.

Her disposition is sunny and bright with a love for routine. Beth realized that Heidi was special and would make a great therapy dog. Two and a half years ago, Beth began the process of getting Heidi and herself certified and trained as a pet therapy team. Heidi was five and a half when she got certified; she is now eight years old. After Beth and Heidi’s final evaluation, Beth reached out to TRU Community Care to see if they would be interested in having the therapy session trainings. And thus, the idea of Heidi being a therapy dog for patients at the end of their life in need of this type of healing support, was born.

The first day on the job, Beth knew that TRU Community Care was going to be a good fit for Heidi. “She walked into a patient’s room and immediately knew what to do.” says Beth. The patient had breast cancer and asked if Heidi could join her on the bed. Beth checked in with the caretaking team and they gave the okay. With that, Heidi jumped up and plopped her head down right on the patient’s chest–where she knew her cancer lived. The patient looked up at Beth and said with a smile, “She knows.”

And that she does.

Now, they both have a weekly session every Tuesday morning at the care center. Beth and Heidi are available to anyone who wants to see them or be with them during this time. Heidi’s work with family members has been incredible. It varies in reaction, but if their loved one loved dogs or they miss their companion, then it can be a very emotional experience. Heidi becomes a vehicle for conversation, re-counting of their history, and ultimately creates an environment that they open up to.

At times, Heidi will come in when a patient has just passed away. Beth will introduce Heidi and she will lie down while everyone begins to pet and love on her. Gradually, everyone will begin to tell stories and open up about their experiences. Heidi is super clued into the emotion about the death and is able to provide a level of empathy that doesn’t come with words.

When Heidi’s therapy vest goes on, she can’t wait to get to the care center. She is all in, going every Tuesday for two years.

For more information about TRU Community Care’s Pet Therapy Program, please visit trucare.org.

View All Blog Posts »

Don’t Wait to Talk About Hospice

December 14, 2016 by TRU Community Care

It’s an all too common situation. A family is at the bedside of a loved one who is seriously ill and nearing the end of life. Each member of the family has a different idea of what should be done and what the patient would have wanted.

Far too many people wait until they are in the midst of a health care crisis before thinking about what options are available or what type of care they or their loved ones would have wanted.

Often, by waiting too long to learn about possible options, like hospice care, people end up spending difficult days in the hospital or the emergency room and opportunities to be with loved ones at home are lost.

What Is Hospice Care?

When a family is coping with a serious illness and a cure is no longer possible, hospice provides the type of care most people say they want at the end of life: comfort and dignity. Considered to be the model for high-quality, compassionate care for people with a life-limiting illness, hospice care includes expert medical care, pain management, and emotional and spiritual support. Care is provided by an inter-disciplinary team of professionals and trained volunteers. The wishes of the patient and family are always at the center of care.

Most hospice care is provided in the home – where the majority of Americans have said they would want to be at this time. Care is also provided in nursing homes, assisted living facilities, and hospice centers, wherever the patient resides.

Who Pays for Hospice?

Hospice is paid for by Medicare, Medicaid, and most private insurance plans and HMOs, and patients with advanced illness are eligible for hospice when the have a life expectancy of six months or less. Many hospice patients live longer than expected when they begin receiving the high-quality care that the hospice team provides. On average, hospice patients live another 21 days beyond their peers who did not receive hospice services.

In addition, TRU Community Care is a local nonprofit 501[c]3 hospice; we will not deny an eligible hospice patient care due to lack of ability to pay for services.

TRU Community Care provides families with information about care options that help to ensure patients live as fully as possible throughout their entire life.

One of the best ways to make sure you and your loved ones benefit fully from hospice, should you ever need this care, is to talk about it before it becomes an issue. Remember, the sooner you call us, the more we can help. 303.442.0961

What Is Hospice Care?

Who Pays for Hospice?

About TRU