A woman humming along with the melody, swiping on her iPad screen, and gazing at her granddaughter’s laughter with such affection; this is how the latest documentary released by Hospice Foundation of Taiwan called Forever Love, Endless Care starts. The protagonist, Chiang, smiles with happiness when she talks about her lovely granddaughter.
In fact, cancer cells have spread throughout her organs, and she is determined to go home for her final hours to be surrounded by her family, or more specifically, by her granddaughter’s laughter.
Many cancer patients or terminally ill patients are hoping to be like Chiang. When the acute symptoms and pain are relieved and stabilized, they want to get back to their family and enjoy the last days in the most familiar places. In Chinese culture, we still value the tradition of “fallen leaves return to the soil”, which makes “dying at home” an idea regarded as dying well.
Hospice home care has been designed to fulfill the needs of respecting the patients’ will and dignity. When patients’ symptoms are controlled, hospice home care can be a preferred choice of the patients. The main caretakers will receive basic training to care for the patients at home while palliative care teams from the hospitals will also visit regularly to provide diagnosis, medicine, and comfort care. By this mutual cooperation, we wish to ensure the safety of terminally ill patients who stay at home without adding anxiety to the family and caretakers.
Sponsored by the International Commercial Bank of China Cultural and Educational Foundation, Hospice Foundation of Taiwan has spent a year observing palliative care teams. The latest documentary provides a close-up look on how hospice home care will be. In this 25-minute long documentary, the director shows the anxieties and worries of patients’ families gradually leading to mutual trust with the palliative care team. The regular visits of palliative care team members provide professional medical care and advices to the families and through their daily conversations, the relationship becomes like that of a friend visiting rather than someone who is cold and professional.
In order to lift the veil for people to understand more about hospice home care, Hospice Foundation of Taiwan will hold five public showings across Taiwan, and everyone, both young and old, is welcome to join us! There will also be palliative professionals to introduce more details about hospice home care. So come and grab a chair!
