As the director of legislative affairs and advocacy at Hospice of the Chesapeake, the largest independent not-for-profit hospice provider in the state of Maryland, Rachel Jordan strives to treat the patient and not the disease. This helps explain why she worries less about the line between “curative” and “noncurative” care and more about whether a particular treatment helps to make a patient feel more comfortable. Jordan spoke to McKnight’s Home Care about her views of hospice and palliative care for a Newsmakers podcast.
Education remains a barrier to hospice care, Rachel Jordan, director of legislative affairs and advocacy at Hospice of the Chesapeake, said. There is still a lot of fear and stigma surrounding the word hospice. The provider, which has four locations and recently began offering high-flow oxygen, tries to reassure people that hospice does not have to mean forgoing treatment. As a nurse practitioner, Jordan said her goal is to support the patient and family, improve the symptom burden and increase quality of life. The African-American community, in particular, has mistrust pertaining to hospice, she pointed out. To help spread the word about hospice to this community, she reaches out to local Black churches. And to raise awareness about hospice among caregivers, she is working with nursing programs at institutions of higher education to intertwine hospice and palliative care education throughout the curriculum. Her organization is working to prepare for the Hospice Outcomes and Patient Evaluation (HOPE) tool, which is set to begin Oct. 1.
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Show contributors:
McKnight’s Home Care Editor Liza Berger; Rachel Jordan, Director of Legislative Affairs and Advocacy, Hospice of the Chesapeake