Guest opinion: Help me share the life-affirming mission of hospice, palliative care

Hospice is not a place. It’s a concept, a philosophy of care.

November is National Hospice and Palliative Care Month, set aside to recognize this incredible form of care delivery, and to honor those who deliver that care. Hospice is believing that people should be able to live each day as fully as possible with dignity, choices, abiding by the patient’s wishes, especially at the end-of-life. Hospice is access to a compassionate team, relief from physical suffering, and therapy for the heart and spirit. It focuses on caring, not curing.

Palliative care is similar but can be provided alongside treatment that seeks to cure the illness. It is specialized care for people living with a chronic, advanced, or serious illness that is focused on providing patient-centered care and relief from symptoms and stress.

When my late wife Susie was facing Alzheimer’s Disease, a terminal illness, hospice came along side us and delivered care to relieve suffering and to provide emotional and spiritual comfort, as well as answers to our family. The degenerative disease journey is incredibly difficult, and the hospice team helped us all through the experience. Hospice continues in the form of bereavement support for survivors. I honestly don’t know what we would have done without the care of hospice.

Allow me to direct you to a source for answers about hospice operated by the 501(c)(3) charity, Florida Hospice & Palliative Care Association — www.LetHospiceHelp.org. The moniker of this site is, ‘No obligations, just answers,’ which reflects the hospice approach to care.

If you have had a loved one experience hospice or palliative care, then you have experienced these blessings firsthand. Perhaps you would consider using your experience to help others. Hospice supporters in Florida have a simple, affordable way to raise funds and awareness for this remarkable service, which is a Florida Hospice specialty license plate for your vehicle.

The Florida Hospice license plate is available through your local Tax Collector’s Office or County Tag Agency. The $25 fee for a specialty plate will fund hospice education programs, access to end-of-life care for Florida’s veterans and a new model of care for very ill children. It will fund statewide education and outreach for hospice volunteers, patients, families, and health care professionals, and it funds programs specific to gender, ethnic, religious and minority groups. You can learn more about these license plates at supportfloridahospice.com.

Thank you for allowing me to share my experience of loss and hope with you. And remember, hospice is there when you need it, believing that ‘Every Day is a Gift.’

Florida House Representative Scott Plakon serves District 29 and is a champion for hospice & palliative care services.

This article originally appeared on Fort Myers News-Press: Nove mber is National Hospice and Palliative Care Month sciott plakon