Improving the Patient and Family Hospice Experience

Care Dimensions is proud to observe Patient Experience Week, which honors the people who work to improve the patient and family experience every day. Meeting the needs of patients and caregivers with empathy and transparency is essential. That is the core of the patient experience and that is the compassionate care we provide.

Understanding the hospice experience from the patient’s and family’s perspective is why we created a Patient and Family Advisory Council (PFAC). We channel patient and family needs, concerns and recommendations to staff and leadership for review and constantly strive to enhance patient- and family-centered care.

Joan Dubis, a PFAC member whose mother received hospice from Care Dimensions, says she enjoys providing feedback about our programs and service practices. “It’s extremely motivating and energizing to me to see the committee’s collaborations and suggestions become a reality,” Joan notes.

Putting these suggestions into action helps us constantly improve the patient experience, and it’s gratifying to read positive letters, emails, and social media reviews written by family members. Care Dimensions recently compiled some of this correspondence into an online book of Family Testimonials. Here are a couple excerpts:

“We appreciate all the direct services you provided to our father to help meet his individual needs and the support given to the rest of the family, answering our questions about how to best help our father with the process of dying with dignity, to provide support for our mother, and to help us collaborate with each other and your team to find the best answers.”
   -  M. Family

“The care you rendered to our mother and to our family eased our way through difficult times . . . What you do and how you do it is not an accident, but rather a reflection of a culture that has been cultivated and nurtured over many years and by many people. That culture transcends the contributions of any one individual and stands as a durable and sustainable legacy of all those that have given selflessly of themselves to build something unimaginable to most of us. Every encounter, every system element brought to bear on our mother’s care, every person we met was outstanding.”
  -  R. Family

Delivering care that generates these kind of testimonials does not happen by accident. We salute our staff members and volunteers for incorporating our values into every encounter with patients and families: compassion; excellence; collaboration; integrity; responsiveness; and innovation. We are grateful for their commitment to our patients, caregivers and communities.

Learn more about Care Dimensions’ PFAC. If you are interested in joining the PFAC or would like to provide feedback about a patient/family experience, please contact [email protected].

If you would like to share a testimonial about your experience with Care Dimensions, please email [email protected].

How to leave a Google review about Care Dimensions

About the author
Amy Ciancarelli is Patient and Family Relations Coordinator for Care Dimensions. She can be reached at 781-373-6604 or [email protected].