Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...

There comes a time in many of our lives when we either take or are given the responsibility of caring for a seriously or terminally ill family member. It is a hard job and unfortunately can be made harder by our confusing and fragmented health care system.

Fortunately, there’s an incredible resource in our community that provides comfort, dignity and respect to those coping with a serious or life-limiting illness and their families. It’s Hospice of Stanly & the Uwharrie.

November is National Hospice and Palliative Care Month, and we’re reaching out to help our community understand the care options that are available to them and their loved ones.

Hospice is unique in that it offers an interdisciplinary team approach to treatment that includes expert medical care, comprehensive pain management and emotional and spiritual care. Caring for the whole person allows the team to address each patient’s unique needs and challenges.

In addition to caring for patients, hospice offers services for families and loved ones that provide emotional support and advice to help family members become confident caregivers and adjust to the future with grief support for up to a year.

The best time to learn about hospice — and to make plans for the kind of care you or a loved one would want — is before you are faced with a medical crisis. One of the most frequent comments we hear from families is, “Why did we wait so long before calling hospice?”

Hospice of Stanly & the Uwharrie is committed to serve and deliver high-quality person-centered care to anyone who is facing a serious or life-limiting illness.

We will provide physical, emotional and spiritual support all while supporting your wishes and plan of care.

We are here for you.

Scott Efird is the board chairman for Hospice of Stanly & the Uwharrie.