Conversations about death, dying and facing one’s own mortality are difficult topics. The checklist of things to get accomplished when there is limited time available can seem overwhelming. Navigators, End-of-Life Doulas (EOLDs) are available to ease your fears, address your questions and provide education and support. The program, launched by Quinlan Care Concepts, is staffed by graduates of International Doula Life Movement (IDLM) who are available to provide compassionate, non-judgmental, non-medical support to individuals and their families nearing the end-of-life.

Participants in the Navigators program do not have to be on our Karen Ann Quinlan Hospice or Quinlan Palliative Care programs to use the service. The Karen Ann Quinlan Friends of Hospice, a philanthropic group, provided the funding for the training and certification of participants in the program. The certification included over 70-hours of specialized training. After two cycles of training the Navigators program will be staffed with more than 20 IDLM trained EOLD’s. More trainings will be offered in 2025 to staff, volunteers and those in the community who are interested in the program.

“This is how we give back to the community that has supported us for more than 44 years,” said Lee Ellison, Director of Marketing and Media at the organization and a Navigators, EOLD. “End-of-life doulas bridge gaps in care and can help create legacies, conduct rituals, plan vigils, lead guided visualizations and lend a helping hand when needed.”

“We can start as early as when anyone wants to talk about their death and figure out advanced directives or end-of-life wishes,” Ellison said. “We can also offer support when someone is no longer conscious to help their loved ones understand the process, educate them about what dying looks like, and then remain with them afterward to talk about the grieving process.”

The services provided by Navigators, EOLDs can include legacy projects, such as helping create memory books, stories or recordings designed to preserve memories, reflect on life experiences, and leave a lasting impact message that honors the person’s life and values.

EOLDs also offer emotional support which includes companionship and support to the dying person and their family and loved ones, helping them navigate their feelings and fears about death. “We also assist with practical matters by providing resources about end-of-life options and facilitating communication between loved ones,” said Ellison.

An EOLD is an advocate for the patient and family providing education about the dying process and what to expect while providing empowerment to make informed decisions. The EOLDs in our Navigators program personalize support based on individual needs, beliefs, and desires for how you, your family and loved ones wish to experience the end-of-life. We work to enhance the quality of the dying journey and ensure it aligns with your personal values and preferences. While EOLDs support those who’ve arrived at the end of their days, they can also make those final moments something their loved ones will carry forward and treasure.

We understand that you may have questions and look forward to providing support. For more information about the Quinlan Care Concepts Navigators EOLD Program please call us at 973-506-8233 or online at QuinlanCare.org/Navigators.

Our mission: Quinlan Care Concepts/Karen Ann Quinlan Hospice is a not-for-profit, organization which provides a full continuum of high quality medical, emotional and spiritual services to hospice patients, their family members and the community.

NEWTON­ – May 22, 2024 — Karen Ann Quinlan Hospice, a division of Quinlan Care Concepts has been named a 2024 Hospice CAHPS Honors Award recipient by HEALTHCAREfirst, a leading provider of CAHPS and bereavement survey programs for home health and hospice agencies. This prestigious annual review recognizes agencies that continuously go above and beyond in providing high-quality care for patients and compassionate caregiver experiences. It acknowledges the highest performing agencies by analyzing the performance of the Hospice Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems (CAHPS) survey satisfaction and quality measures.

To be considered for this award, the hospice agency must have scored above the HEALTHCAREfirst National Performance Score on the Hospice CAHPS Willingness to Recommend question. Once that criteria is met, performance is evaluated utilizing a set of 23 additional quality indicator measures. These scores are then compared on a question-by question basis to a national performance score calculated from all partnering hospices contained in HEALTHCAREfirst’s Hospice CAHPS database. Special recognition, Honors Elite, is awarded to those hospices that score above the national performance score on 100%, or all twenty-four, of the evaluated questions.

“We began our Annual Hospice Honors Award program more than ten years ago as a way to highlight those agencies that are truly leading the way in providing and demonstrating quality patient care,” said Jeremy Crow, Head of RCM and CAHPS Survey, Home Health and Hospice.

“We congratulate Karen Ann Quinlan Hospice, New Jersey and Pennsylvania on this recognition and are so proud and honored that they have chosen to partner with us in helping drive success for their agency.”

Woody Hungarter, RN, BSN, MS, President credits the entire staff at Karen Ann Quinlan Hospice for this outstanding accomplishment. He said, “We are honored to be one of three Hospice Honors Elite recipients in Pennsylvania and one of two Hospice Honors recipients in New Jersey. To achieve “Elite and Honors” status validates the exemplary care extended to our community by our dedicated team.”

Karen Ann Quinlan Hospice a Division of Quinlan Care Concepts is an independent and local non-profit organization that provides a full continuum of high quality medical, emotional and spiritual services to individuals requiring hospice, their family members and the community. The organization serves families in Sussex, Warren and Pike County, PA. For more information on the services they provide, please contact us at 800-888-1117.

NEWTON – International Doula Life Movement (IDLM) founder Anna Adams and Executive Director Pamela Carter visited the Karen Ann Quinlan Hospice administrative office to begin the IDLM – Death/End of Life Doula Specialist Program training. IDLM has partnered with Quinlan Care Concepts – Karen Ann Quinlan Hospice to provide training KAQ Hospice Volunteers and Employees to be End-of-Life Doulas.

Doula, n. (dou; la);

A non-medical professional who provides support to another individual during a time of transition by providing education, information and resources; emotional and holistic care; and physical support. 

“The doula movement is rapidly growing and for good reason. In times of transition or crisis, individuals and families need compassionate support to prepare emotionally for change. Well-trained doulas guide people to make the best choice for them,” said Anna Adams, founder of IDLM.

“The International Doula Life Movement offers international doulas — of all specialties — a values and mission-based education, resource center, and community committed to helping them support others,” said Adams.

A death doula is a person who helps support the dying or their loved ones through the end of life with non-medical support.

“We are thrilled to have Karen Ann Quinlan Hospice joining us and look forward to being a part of the Quinlan Care Concepts Team,” said Pamela Carter, IDLM Executive Director.

The trainings, generously funded by the Karen Ann Quinlan Friends of Hospice, started on Friday, May 3. Two trainings, with 10 students each, are planned for 2024 and more trainings will be held in 2025 for volunteers, employees and those in the community who wish to participate in this specialized, 70+ hour certification course. This initiative is part of the strategic plan for Quinlan Care Concepts to offer complete end-of-life services to the community. Upon graduation ILDM certified EOL Doulas will available to help families in the communities that we serve.

On our 44th Anniversary Karen Ann Quinlan Hospice is proud to announce the branding of our four divisions, Karen Ann Quinlan Hospice, Karen Ann Quinlan Home for Hospice, the Joseph T. Quinlan Bereavement Center and Quinlan Palliative Care under the umbrella of Quinlan Care Concepts. Each division name remains the same. Quinlan Care Concepts more accurately reflects the spectrum of services we offer and our commitment to being end-of-life specialists in the communities that we serve. Our quality, compassion, and commitment to those we serve remains the same. Stay tuned for more updates from your local, not-for-profit, award-winning hospice since 1980!

The winning number for the 2024 Hospice Honors program booklet was 2284. If this number is in your journal please call Jennifer Smith at 973-383-0115 ext. 106.

Press Release

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

DATE: March 4, 2023

What is Palliative Care and How Can it Help?

NEWTON — There’s an important medical term that you may not have heard of: Palliative Care (pronounced PAH-LEE-UH-TIVE). “Palliate” means to make comfortable by treating a person’s symptoms resulting from a serious illness. Hospice is just one form of palliative care that many Americans have heard of.

Both hospice and palliative care focus on helping a person be comfortable by addressing issues causing physical or emotional pain, or suffering. Hospice and other palliative care providers have teams of people working together to provide care. The goals of palliative care are to improve the quality of a seriously ill person’s life and to support that person and their family during and after treatment.

For more than forty years, Karen Ann Quinlan Hospice has been caring for people at the end of life while hospice nationwide has served more than 1.5 million patients and their family caregivers each year.

Palliative care is specialized medical care for people living with a serious illness. This type of care is focused on providing relief from the symptoms and stress of the illness. The goal is to improve quality of life for both the patient and the family.

Palliative care is provided by a specially-trained team of doctors, nurses and other specialists who work together with a patient’s other doctors to provide an extra layer of support. Palliative care is based on the needs of the patient, not on the patient’s prognosis. It is appropriate at any age and at any stage in a serious illness, and it can be provided along with curative treatment.

Hospice focuses on relieving symptoms and supporting patients with a life expectancy of months not years. Palliative care may be given at any time during a person’s illness, from diagnosis on and is appropriate for any stage of a serious illness.

If you or a family member would like to learn more about Quinlan Palliative Care, please call 973-888-9100 a FREE consultation. You may also visit our website at https://www.quinlanpalliativecare.org.

Click here for a printable fact sheet. Click here for a Spanish printable fact sheet.

Karen Ann Quinlan Hospice can help you understand more about palliative care and hospice and determine what might be best for you or your loved one. Contact them at 800-882-1117 or visit their website www.karenannquinlanhospice.org.

Karen Ann Quinlan Memorial Foundation is passionately dedicated to providing hospice care for the terminally ill, bereavement for those who have lost loved ones palliative care for those seeking an extra layer of care while seeking curative treatment.

Serving North and Northwest NJ and the Pike County area PA; please call 800-882-1117 to reach any of our services. For programs, events, and more information visit www.karenannquinlanhospice.org.

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Click here for a complete 2023 Lights of Life Memorial Program Booklet.

Click on the image above to view the 2023 Lights of Life – Featured Stars.

Earlier today, an intimate group of hospice and palliative care leaders gathered in America’s town square, Times Square, NYC, to honor the life and legacy of former President Jimmy Carter. President Carter reaches the six-month milestone on hospice this week and continues to enjoy time with his family and loved ones in his hometown of Plains, Georgia.

Among those in attendance were several speakers: NHPCO COO and interim CEO, Ben Marcantonio; Susan Lloyd, CEO of Delaware Hospice; Jacqueline Lopez-Devine, Chief Clinical Officer (CCO) of Gentiva. NHPCO members are encouraged to write their own tributes to President Carter’s impact on the hospice and palliative care community using the hashtag #candlesforcarter. A recording of the event is available here.

All of the Hospice Honors 2023 event journals had a lucky number hidden in the book. The attendee with number 1349 is the recipient or two tickets to the 2023 Wine and Cheese Festival presented by the Friends of Hospice. The event will be held on Sunday, September 10 at the beautiful Water Wheel Farm in Fredon. To claim your tickets please contact Jennifer Smith at 973-383-0115. Congratulations.

Thank you to everyone, including the honorees, presenters and sponsors for making last night such a success. All proceeds from the event with benefit the Julia Quinlan Home for Hospice Endowment Fund.

Woody Hungarter, RN BSN, MS and President of Karen Ann Quinlan Hospice recently earned a End-of-Life Doula Certificate from The University of Vermont Professional and Continuing Education.

Earners of this designation are prepared to offer non-medical, compassionate care to those facing the end-of-life, complementing the support provided by hospice, palliative care, and each client’s natural network. They understand common terminal conditions and diseases, pain management practices, the active dying process, and helpful interventions to ease client suffering. Earners provide unconditional positive regard and nonjudgmental support while engaging in open dialog with clients.

EOL Doulas support clients with individualized, compassionate care in several ways, including emotional, spiritual, informational, and physical support, which greatly helps to lower stress levels, aid in comfort, and promote personalized, even positive, dying passages for clients and their loved ones.

We would like to congratulate Woody on this accomplishment.

More than a month ago the 39th president Jimmy Carter, 98, after a series of short hospital stays, decided to forgo further medical treatment and elected to “spend his remaining time at home with his family and receive hospice care instead of additional medical intervention,” the Carter Center announced in a statement posted on Twitter. “He has the full support of his family and his medical team.”

Hospice provides support and comfort for people who need end-of-life care. Opting for hospice care is one of the most compassionate decisions you will ever make. You can receive hospice care in your own home, a residential facility, such as the Karen Ann Quinlan Home for Hospice in Fredon, or in assisted living centers, nursing homes and hospitals. Some patients receive care in the homes of friends or family.

According to the Hospice Foundation of America, a third of all Americans choose hospice care when they are dying. But hospice isn’t only for the dying. Loved ones also benefit from hospice care, as workers will support them through some of the most difficult moments in life.

What services are provided? The interdisciplinary hospice team: • Manages the patient’s pain and other symptoms • Assists the patient and family members with the emotional, psychosocial, and spiritual aspects of dying • Provides medications and medical equipment • Instructs the family on how to care for the patient • Provides grief support and counseling • Makes short-term inpatient care available when pain or symptoms become too difficult to manage at home, or the caregiver needs respite time • Delivers special services like speech and physical therapy when needed • Provides grief support and counseling to surviving family and friends Source: NHPCO Facts and Figures | 2022 EDITION

Here are some of the support services you can expect from Karen Ann Quinlan Hospice:

• Every patient who receives hospice treatment must be qualified by a physician. All care is directed by your primary physician.
• Nursing care and services are provided by or under the supervision of a registered nurse. At Karen Ann Quinlan Hospice our nursing staff is available to patients and families 24-hours a day.
• Medical Social Service is provided by a qualified social worker under the director of a physician.
• Our hospice Medical Director will oversee the general needs of the patient working in tandem with the attending physician which includes palliation and management of the terminal disease and related conditions.
• Home Health Aides provide personal care services. Aides’ services are provided under the general supervision of a registered nurse.
• Chaplain Services are available to provide/facilitate spiritual counseling.
• Volunteer services are available to assist the patient/caregiver in any one of a multitude of ways from providing comfort and respite to the family, an avenue of socialization for the patient; assistance with shopping, etc. All volunteers have completed a Karen Ann Quinlan Hospice training course.
• Bereavement Services are provided for 13 months following the patient’s death to family and significant others. Additionally, the Joseph T. Quinlan Bereavement Center holds bereavement and grief recovery support groups in all the communities served by Karen Ann Quinlan Hospice.

The staff at Karen Ann Quinlan Hospice is trained to offer peace of mind in addition to medical care. We hear it so many times, patients and families tell us: “We wish we’d called hospice sooner.” Patients and families can benefit most from hospice care when they seek support earlier rather than in a crisis. The best way to determine if you or your loved one could be helped by hospice is to call us at 800-882-1117. There is no cost and calling does not commit you or your loved one to hospice

What services are provided?
The interdisciplinary hospice team:
▌ Manages the patient’s pain and other symptoms
▌ Assists the patient and family members with the
emotional, psychosocial, and spiritual aspects of dying
▌ Provides medications and medical equipment
▌ Instructs the family on how to care for the patient
▌ Provides grief support and counseling
▌ Makes short-term inpatient care available when pain or
symptoms become too difficult to manage at home, or
the caregiver needs respite time
▌ Delivers special services like speech and physical therapy
when needed
▌ Provides grief support and counseling to surviving family
and friends

Karen Ann Quinlan Hospice a Level 5 – We Honor Veterans Partner is hosting a Welcome Home Vietnam Veterans Brown Bag Lunch on Thursday, March 30^th at the VFW Post 5360 located on 85 Mill Street in Newton from 11 a.m. – 2 p.m. The event is free and Veterans from all branches and service periods are invited to attend.

At the event special “welcome home” recognition and thanks will be given to Vietnam War Veterans. A representative from Quilts of Valor will be in attendance and all Veterans who have not received a quilt will be presented with one. There will also be musical entertainment by Omar who will perform songs from the 60s and 70s. Other businesses and community partners will be in on hand to participate in saying thank you and welcome home to our Veterans.

The Vietnam War was the longest war in which Americans ever fought. The first combat troops arrived in 1965 and fought the war until the cease-fire of January 1973. For many of the American Veterans of the war, the wounds of Vietnam will never heal. 

Approximately 2,700,000 American men and women served in Vietnam, and it was the first time America failed to welcome its Veterans back as heroes. America’s Veterans have done everything asked of them in their mission to serve our country and it is never too late to give them a hero’s welcome home.

This “Welcome Home Lunch” is a simple act of gratitude to show appreciation and recognition for those Veterans who were never welcomed home or thanked for their service.  The Vietnam War Veterans Recognition Act, signed into law in 2017, designates March 29 of each year as National Vietnam War Veterans Day and most states celebrate “Welcome Home Vietnam Veterans Day” on March 29 or 30 of each year. 

Those who plan on attending are asked to RSVP by either calling 973-383-0115 or by reserving online at www.karenannquinlanhospice.org/WelcomeHome. Again, there is no cost to attend, and all Veterans are welcome. Karen Ann Quinlan Hospice is your local, not-for-profit, award-winning hospice serving the community since 1980. For more information on our services please call 973-383-0115.

UPDATED ON: FEBRUARY 20, 2023 / 2:43 AM / CBS/AP

Former President Jimmy Carter is receiving hospice care at his home, the Carter Center announced Saturday. He made the decision after a series of short hospital stays, the center said in a statement.

The charity created by the 98-year-old former president said that Carter “decided to spend his remaining time at home with his family and receive hospice care instead of additional medical intervention.”

Click here to read the entire article.

When is the right time for Hospice?

A growing number of caregivers are finding that the correct answer to the question is, “As early as possible,” as they discover all of the advantages hospice has to offer the patient as well as the caregiver.

Special needs require the services of specialists. Hospice professionals are specialists in end-of-life care, and should be called upon during the first stages of a terminal illness.

Six Months or Less to Live

A person of any age is eligible for hospice after being certified by a physician as having a life expectancy that may be six months or less, depending on the course of the disease. If a patient lives beyond six months after admission they can continue to receive services as long as a physician continues to document the patient’s eligibility.

Hospice services are covered by Medicaid and many types of insurance, although many not-for-profit hospices generally provide services regardless of the person’s ability to pay.

Making the Most of the Final Stages of Life

Hospice care enables the individual and their families to experience the final stage of life together, in the setting most comfortable for them. In most cases, the person remains at home, close to family and friends while under professional medical supervision. Karen Ann Quinlan Hospice, like many hospices around the country, assigns a care team to each hospice patient. The hospice interdisciplinary team may include a physician; nurse; social worker; bereavement counselor; chaplain; and volunteers. Each team member is focused on the person, not the illness, making sure that all physical, emotional and spiritual needs are met.

Pain Management

Hospice has a unique approach to pain management – another advantage of entering hospice care earlier. The care team always works to manage the patient’s pain as expediently and efficiently as possible. Addressing pain and other symptoms in their early stages, rather than waiting until they become severe, is a priority.

In addition to determining the appropriate medications for pain and other symptoms, members of the care team identify the best ways to administer the medication to the satisfaction of the individual patient. 

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