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November 21, 2005

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

For more information, contact Becky Vonnahme, 712-655-3624 or e-mail wcihf@longlines.com

Breaking down the conspiracy of silence

MANNING – When people are preparing for death or the loss of a loved one, many times they feel as if there is a conspiracy amongst their friends or family to keep quiet and avoid talking about the dying process. Because death is a topic that makes people feel uncomfortable, it’s unfortunately a topic that many times never gets mentioned.

However, a new grant-funded end-of-life care and education program currently underway in Carroll County is helping to break down some of those communication barriers and take the “taboo” label off talking about death and dying, especially in the health care setting.

The West Central Iowa Healthcare Foundation in Manning received notification in May that it was selected to receive a grant for $51,239 from The Wellmark Foundation to develop a comprehensive end-of-life program with emphasis on pain control.

According to Becky Vonnahme, executive director of the West Central Iowa Healthcare Foundation, the project focuses on three areas: end-of-life-care education for medical providers and health care staff at the hospital and nursing home in Manning; implementation of new palliative standards of care at both facilities; and increasing public awareness about end-of-life decisions. 

“This project is a great example of identifying and then working on a significant health issue affecting the community,” said Dr. Sheila Riggs, executive director of The Wellmark Foundation. 

Phase one of the project was recently completed when nursing staff at the Manning Regional Healthcare Center received specialized training on communication skills and pain management for patients during the death and dying process. The two-part series was facilitated by Dee Bryant, RN, from the Mercy Medical Center Hospice facility in Johnston.

According to Bryant, it’s especially important for caregivers in the hospital and nursing home setting to feel comfortable communicating with patients and properly managing their pain. She presented research that estimates 50% of all deaths nationwide will occur in nursing homes by the year 2020.

“Death does not need to be a painful experience for the individual nearing his or her end of life,” said Bryant. “In fact, unrelieved pain actually makes a patient die faster.”

During her presentation, Bryant discussed several misconceptions people have about pain during the dying process. The following list highlights points that patients and families need to be made aware of:

• There is no benefit to suffering with pain

• Physical pain can usually be well controlled with medications taken by mouth

• When these drugs are used to treat cancer pain, addiction is rarely a problem

• Taking these medications now will not mean that they won’t work later

• Communication with the doctors and nurses in important

• Doctors and nurses cannot tell how much pain you have unless you tell them

• Doctors and nurses want to know about any problems that you think the pain medications may be causing as there are probably ways to make these better

Research has also proven that end-of-life and palliative care issues are very important to people across the county, even if they don’t verbalize it to their health care providers. For example, a survey commissioned by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation in 2002 found that 93% of respondents felt it was important for us to improve how the health care system in the country cares for the dying.

“Carroll County is aging and has one of the highest elderly populations in the entire state,” said Vonnahme. “The reality is that a large portion of our citizens will experience death in a local hospital or nursing home. This grant is enabling our healthcare staff in Manning to better meet the needs of those patients and families during the sensitive period of time preceding death.”

The grant is the second award given in the last year to the West Central Iowa Healthcare Foundation from the Wellmark Foundation. The Healthcare Foundation received an award for just under $50,000 last August to develop a diabetes awareness and prevention program.