Hospice Care by Mitigare [] Rotary Club Presentation

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Questions abound regarding how one who is dying should be treated at the end of life.  Many fear uncontrollable pain (the mitigation of which is called palliative care) and wonder how to control it and how to plan their departure from life.

Hospice Care by Mitigare will be the guest speaker at the Rotary Midday meeting on Tuesday, August 17 at 9:30 am. Many questions about hospice in Mexico will be addressed. Hospice Care by Mitigare is a leader in both hospice care and in palliative care training in Mexico. With only 125 palliative care doctors in the country, San Miguel is fortunate to have two palliative care physicians at Mitigare, Dra. Maria de Lourdes Tejeida and Dra. Silvia Chavira.

Mitigare provides hospice care in the setting chosen by the patient. Generally, this is in the patient’s home and Mitigare has all the durable medical equipment needed to make home care comfortable and safe. Many people wonder when hospice care is needed and how hospice care may differ from care from a typical doctor or specialist? It is a little-known fact that persons entering hospice care early live an average of 30 days longer that those who do not choose hospice. Why is that? After this presentation you should be able to answer these and other basic questions about end-of-life care in San Miguel.

In addition to Mitigare’s medical specialists, Lic. Martha Hamill, a thanatologist trained in bereavement work, will be able to explain why hospice care is often more important for the family and caregivers than for the patient themselves. Hamill will cover the topics of anticipatory grief and how addressing grief and intrafamily communication early can improve the patient’s quality of life as well as help achieve the illusive “good death”.

Hospice is not a franchise and there is no single organization to which a hospice must belong. Hospice is a philosophy of care. That philosophy is very specific, and it implies a team of trained professionals working together with the patient and family to maximize quality of life in the last days of life. A difference with hospice in Mexico is that Mexican families generally want to provide hands on care to their loved ones. Mitigare nurses visit the home to teach the family members how to best provide care and feel empowered to keep the patient comfortable and safe. Learn how a hospice team works to maximize quality of life.

Hospice Care by Mitigare is the only home care hospice in Mexico. In addition to providing excellent local hospice care, their mission is to develop a hospice model that can be incorporated into the existing public and private health care systems throughout Mexico. Mitigare has trained caregivers, doctors, nurses and social workers throughout the country in end-of-life care. In 2019 Mitigare hosted an international conference drawing more than 400 attendees. Another conference is being planned for 2022.

Rotary is where neighbors, friends and problem-solvers share ideas, join leaders and take action to create lasting change.  For more information, contact President Skip Essick at skipessickmedia@gmail.com.