- What is a hospice residence?
- How does care differ in a hospice residence versus a hospital?
Hospice residence is about caring not curing with a focus on offering free and meaningful care to individuals with a palliative diagnosis. As opposed to a hospital, where care is primarily administered by a medical team – including a primary physician – in a clinical setting, residents are cared for by an interdisciplinary team of health-care professionals (e.g. nurses, personal support workers and social workers) and dedicated volunteers who provide assistance with pain and symptom management and offer comfort measures in a calm, nurturing and home-like environment.
Residents have access to a private room, unrestricted visiting hours and free parking, which are not always available in a hospital setting and have the opportunity to truly choose how they live their final days. For example, having their pet stay with them, the opportunity to eat meals based on their personal choices and schedule, being able to bathe and shower whenever they want, the opportunity to spend time outdoors, etc. In addition, hospice residence care offers a wide range of non-medical service and program options including emotional and spiritual support for residents and their family members, arts and music programming and holistic healing practices.
- Aren’t hospice services already available in Durham Region?
VON Durham Hospice Services does provide community services, including in-home hospice palliative care and bereavement support to individuals in Durham Region who are experiencing illness, death and/or grief, with information available on the VON Durham Hospice Services website
- How will Durham Region benefit from hospice residence care?
There was an estimated need for 33 hospice residence beds in Durham Region by 2018-2019. Durham Region Hospice is committed to address this need by building a 10-bed hospice site in Whitby and a nine-bed hospice site in Clarington
Our hospices will work with community and hospital partners as part of the health-care system. We will support individuals and their families through their end-of-life journey in a warm, caring, compassionate environment.
- What is the admission criteria for hospice residence?
Durham Region Hospice – Whitby and Durham Region Hospice – Clarington will support individuals who have received a palliative diagnosis from their family doctor or specialist. This includes speaking with individuals and their family members about how to best support them and where and when Durham Region Hospice can admit them to hospice residence care. Potential residents will be asked to indicate their preferred hospice location, and we will do our best to accommodate.
- How does an individual with a palliative diagnosis access hospice residence care?
- What is the cost of hospice residence for an individual with a palliative diagnosis?
- How long do residents typically stay in hospice residence?
- Is hospice residence staffed by doctors or nurses?
- What is the Comfort, Care, Compassion campaign and how can I support it?
- How is hospice residence care funded in Ontario?
- What age(s) does hospice residence serve?
- Where in Clarington and Whitby will the new hospice residence s be located?
Durham Region Hospice – Clarington, a nine-bed facility, will be located on Cobbledick Road in Newcastle, Ontario. Durham Region Hospice – Whitby will offer 10 beds at the corner of Crawforth St and Prince of Wales Drive in Whitby.
- When will Durham Region Hospice – Clarington and Durham Region Hospice – Whitby be open?
- How is access to a hospice residence bed determined?
- Will Durham Region Hospice – Clarington and Durham Region Hospice – Whitby be available only to Durham Region residents?
- What is the role of a volunteer within a hospice residence?
- How can I become a volunteer with Durham Region Hospice – Clarington or Durham Region Hospice – Whitby?