Helping people understand the nature of the transition from curative to palliative care. That is Odyssey HealthCare’s main objective.
“Our main purpose is to educate people on their medical choices,” said Pam LaBorde, Odyssey’s Community Education Representative. “Hospice is part of a medical option.”
Odyssey is the largest hospice provider in the United States and has been a part of the Southwest Louisiana area since 2002 when it purchased Hospice of Southwest Louisiana in Lake Charles, a company that had previously bought Helping Hands Hospice of Sulphur. It employs over 68 people and is strictly about end of life care. Their aim is to make life before death better for not only the patient, but for their family as well.
“We focus not only on the medical but the psychological and spiritual as well,” said Lydia Appling, an Odyssey Licensed Clinical Social Worker.
“We make it okay for them to talk and we validate their feelings,” she added.
“We are there to benefit the family,” said LaBorde. “We work together with the patient and family before and after death.”
Education is the key for Odyssey. In order to better serve the community, the company continually offers educational opportunities for area professionals as well as for the general public. One such opportunity is the Hospice Foundation of America’s 17th Annual Living With Grief Teleconference on Wednesday, March 24, at the Isle of Capri. Odyssey has been hosting this conference locally for several years.
The teleconference is a one day gathering of a panel of experts who will address care options related to cancer diagnoses as well as loss and grief reactions for patients, families and professional caregivers. Participants will also examine the psychosocial aspects of cancer, pain management, and ethical issues related to the disease.
“It is community-minded education [and] that is what Odyssey is all about - education,” said LaBorde.
Last year the focus was on Alzheimer’s disease but the topic choice of cancer for this year’s event is one with a heavy relevance to this area.
According to LaBorde, the majority of their clients in this area are cancer patients.
“We see patients of all diagnoses, but patients with cancer are the highest number,” said LaBorde.
The teleconference is free to the public and any professional who just wishes to attend. But there is a charge if a professional, such as a nurse or social worker, wants to earn a Continuing Education Unit (CEU). And in regards to the CEU’s, LaBorde emphasized the importance of having such a large event as the teleconference as well as other programs offered by Odyssey, such as the Cultural Diversity and Pain Management programs on March 16, in this area for professionals.
“Most of the time, they would have to be on the internet or travel to Baton Rouge to earn CEU’s,” said LaBorde.
“It is a resource for them,” she added.
But in the end, it is about the best they can do for their clients.
“We take care of people,” said Appling.
For more information about the teleconference, other programs, or Odyssey HealthCare itself, contact them at 562-3200 or visit their website, www.odsyhealth.com
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Helping people understand the nature of the transition from curative to palliative care. That is Odyssey HealthCare’s main objective.
“Our main purpose is to educate people on their medical choices,” said Pam LaBorde, Odyssey’s Community Education Representative. “Hospice is part of a medical option.”
Odyssey is the largest hospice provider in the United States and has been a part of the Southwest Louisiana area since 2002 when it purchased Hospice of Southwest Louisiana in Lake Charles, a company that had previously bought Helping Hands Hospice of Sulphur. It employs over 68 people and is strictly about end of life care. Their aim is to make life before death better for not only the patient, but for their family as well.
“We focus not only on the medical but the psychological and spiritual as well,” said Lydia Appling, an Odyssey Licensed Clinical Social Worker.
“We make it okay for them to talk and we validate their feelings,” she added.
“We are there to benefit the family,” said LaBorde. “We work together with the patient and family before and after death.”
Education is the key for Odyssey. In order to better serve the community, the company continually offers educational opportunities for area professionals as well as for the general public. One such opportunity is the Hospice Foundation of America’s 17th Annual Living With Grief Teleconference on Wednesday, March 24, at the Isle of Capri. Odyssey has been hosting this conference locally for several years.
The teleconference is a one day gathering of a panel of experts who will address care options related to cancer diagnoses as well as loss and grief reactions for patients, families and professional caregivers. Participants will also examine the psychosocial aspects of cancer, pain management, and ethical issues related to the disease.
“It is community-minded education [and] that is what Odyssey is all about - education,” said LaBorde.
Last year the focus was on Alzheimer’s disease but the topic choice of cancer for this year’s event is one with a heavy relevance to this area.
According to LaBorde, the majority of their clients in this area are cancer patients.
“We see patients of all diagnoses, but patients with cancer are the highest number,” said LaBorde.
The teleconference is free to the public and any professional who just wishes to attend. But there is a charge if a professional, such as a nurse or social worker, wants to earn a Continuing Education Unit (CEU). And in regards to the CEU’s, LaBorde emphasized the importance of having such a large event as the teleconference as well as other programs offered by Odyssey, such as the Cultural Diversity and Pain Management programs on March 16, in this area for professionals.
“Most of the time, they would have to be on the internet or travel to Baton Rouge to earn CEU’s,” said LaBorde.
“It is a resource for them,” she added.
But in the end, it is about the best they can do for their clients.
“We take care of people,” said Appling.
For more information about the teleconference, other programs, or Odyssey HealthCare itself, contact them at 562-3200 or visit their website, www.odsyhealth.com
