May is Canada Hospice Month.
On May 5, I was privileged to participate in the first of the Hikes for Hospice sponsored by the Shuswap Trail Alliance as a fundraiser for Shuswap Hospice Society.
The company, the cause, the spectacular view from atop the Enderby Cliffs made it a perfect day.
Hospice is a holistic palliative/end-of-life care that ensures symptom management, physical and emotional/spiritual support of the patient and his/her family. It focuses on caring not curing, living as well as possible to the end. Quality of life, family wellness, community involvement and personal choice and dignity are all part of the compassionate and progressive vision of hospice. Shuswap Hospice Society, a member of B.C and Canada Hospice Palliative Care Associations, is a trained volunteer-run, non-profit organization that for more than 25 years has provided compassionate emotional support to the dying and the bereaved in the Shuswap.
Care/counselling is received in hospital, home or long-term care facility, free of charge and for as long as needed. As an integral member of the End-of-Life Care Team, the society is funded by the Interior Health Authority, by memorial, personal or corporate donations and by fundraising events such as the Hikes for Hospice.
Are you facing a life-limiting illness and/or grieving the loss of a loved one? You are not alone. Shuswap Hospice Society can help. For more information, call 250-832-7099 or email: brenda@shuswaphospice.ca.
You are more than welcome to participate in the Shuswap Trail Alliance’s September Hikes for Hospice so you can stay healthy, have fun and support a great cause.
Adele Preto, chair,
Shuswap Hospice Society