This Week

Life's Journeys

News Digest

A message from Dottie Deremo,
President/CEO, Hospice of Michigan

F

that child, loss of time with other
family members, loss of income and
loss of a social life. Families need to
learn about community resources
available to them, and Hospice, in
turn, must often provide necessary
funding, most of which comes from
charitable donations.

or most people, facing the
impending death of a loved one
is an overwhelming experience.
It becomes even more so
when the loved one is a child.
In response to this tragic situation,
Hospice of Michigan created a spe-
cialized team recognized for expert-
ise and compassion in the care of
children with life-threatening diagnoses
and their families. Over the past
seven years, Hospice of Michigan has
cared for more than 300 pediatric
patients. The majority have cancer;
others have had fatal neurological or
genetic conditions.

Offering hospice support sooner

A different type of care

We have learned that pediatric
hospice differs from hospice for
adult patients in significant ways. For
one thing, hospice support often
lasts longer for children than it does
for adults because their illnesses are
often slower to develop and unpre-
dictable. Also, not all children
referred to Hospice die. Sometimes
they "graduate" from Hospice during
periods of remission. Often they
have pain that they cannot express
or that is unrecognized by adults.
Always there is an overriding sense
of loss for the child and the family.
It is this difference that led to the
creation of our Pediatric Hospice
program in 1994. At that time we
identified a need that the American
Academy of Pediatrics has only
recently addressed. Their report of
Augu.: 2000 recommended special-
ized palliative care for children
including pain and symptom man-
agement; competent and compas-
sionate care; and attention to educa-
tion, play and developmental needs.
More recently, Congress acknowl-

edged the need for children's hospice by
allocating funds to develop children's
hospice care demonstration programs.
Sadly the United States is behind
many other industrialized nations in
its care of seriously ill children.

Only a few pediatric
programs exist

Our pediatric hospice program is
one of only a handful of programs in
the country with a dedicated pediatric
team. From its inception, we recog,
nized that pediatric hospice requires
a different model of care than adult
hospice. It requires a specialized
team of physicians, nurses, social
workers and clergy working together
to assess the needs of each child and
family. Recently Dr. Jay Shayevitz, of
Providence Hospital, became
Medical Director of our pediatrics
team in Southeast Michigan.
According to Kim Oberst, our
corporate director of Pediatric
Hospice, a family confronts many
losses when a child is diagnosed
with a life-threatening condition.
loss of hopes for the future with

ADVERTISEMENT

Pediatric hospice shares a problem
with adult hospice; the reluctance
of families to make the call that
acknowledges there is a potential loss
of a beloved family member. And yet
parents interviewed for an article in
the Journal of the American Medical
Association state "that the real time of
crisis is the time of diagnosis."
Our new Pediatric Early Care
Program can help families through
this time of crisis by offering care
and support from the time a child is
diagnosed with a life-threatening
condition. Our Pediatric Grief. and
Bereavement support continues as
long as is needed by the family.
We believe we can improve the
quality of life for the terminally ill
child and, if necessary, plan for a com-
fortable, peaceful death. Admittedly,
it is difficult to accept that pediatric
hospice is needed, but 53,000 chil-
dren nationally die each year of life-
shortening diseases, and it is estimat-
ed that only 5,000 of them receive
hospice care. A recent study suggests
that as many as 89 percent of children
with cancer suffered from uncon-
trolled pain at the end of life.
Should you wish to learn more
about our Pediatric Hospice program
or our Jewish Hospice program, call
Bobbie Blitz our Jewish liaison spe-
cialist, at 248-443-5907, or page her
at 248-966-8262.

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Solzhenitsyn Writes
About Jews

Moscow/JTA — A book on Russian-
JelArish relations by Alexander
Solzhenitsyn debuted in Moscow
bookstores.
In an interview, the Nobel Prize-
winning author said he expects the
book to spark controversy. He also
told the interviewer Russia had been
smeared by allegations of widespread
anti-Semitism.

Jews, Blacks
Told To Unite

Washington/JTA — Jews and blacks
were discriminated against during
the last presidential election and
must continue to stand together to
fight for justice, Reps. Jerrold
Nadler, D-N.Y., and John Lewis, D-
Ga., said at the third annual
Black/Jewish Congressional Awards
ceremony last week.
The comments came in regard to the
"butterfly ballot" that confused many
Jewish voters in Palm Beach County,
Fla., and allegations that blacks in
Florida were hindered from voting.
"Our ancestors all came over in dif-
ferent ships, but we're all in the same
boar now," Lewis said.

Fund Will Help
Gays And Lesbians

Chicago/JTA — Chicago's Jewish fed-
eration is establishing what is believed
to be the first federation fund in
North America designa7ed for gay and
lesbian needs.
The Jewish Lesbian and Gay Fund
will raise and allocate money to edu-
cate the Jewish community about gay
and lesbian concerns, provide services
for gay and lesbian Jews and mobilize
Jewish support for anti-homophobia
and other initiatives.

Operation Joshua
Promotes Israel

Jerusalem/JTA — A new initiative has
been launched to send one or two mem-
bers of every synagogue in the United
States to Israel in the coming months.
Dubbed "Operation Joshua," the
campaign is the latest effort to show
solidarity with the Jewish state.
It is being organized by the Israel

