The many services of Tidewell Hospice are very relevant to all of our lives.  Tidewell Hospice has a saying, “When quantity of time is no longer possible, TideWell Hospice’s focus is quality — making the most of the time that remains.”

Many people may be familiar with the assistance they provide to patients with advanced illnesses and their families, but as we researched this article we were amazed at the wide range of services provided by Tidewell Hospice to our community since their founding in 1980.  

There are Hospice Houses located in seven of our communities: Arcadia, Bradenton, Ellenton, Englewood, Port Charlotte, Sarasota and Venice.  At these skilled nursing facilities, families can spend time together in a warm homelike atmosphere with each other, and yet at the same time benefit from the supportive professional and volunteer staff.

Adjoining each of these houses is a staff center from which the additional outreach programs are conducted.    In addition to the palliative care, Tidewell Hospice also provides a range of support programs to assist those who are facing a progressive illness, and those who are grieving.

Tidewell Hospice’s programs include:

•    Transitions:  A volunteer based program that provides support, friendship and respite for patients and their families.
•    Bereavement Services: The mission of Tidewell’s Grief Education and Support Services is to provide compassionate guidance through the grief journey.  They offer counseling and support groups for a range of grief circumstances including suicide survivors, mothers who have experienced the death of an adult child and many others.
•    Children’s Services:  When a child is facing an advanced illness it is especially painful and difficult.  The Children’s Services Program assists the children and their families facing this crisis, and it also provides support to children who are coping with grief.
•    Tidewell Honors:  Tidewell Hospice provides special and dignified care for veterans and their families.  Upon request, a veteran entering into the program will receive special recognition including a pinning ceremony and a certificate of appreciation.  The staff and volunteers have undergone specific training to assist those who struggle with the psychological effects of battle and who may experience a more difficult reaction when facing their own mortality.
•    Volunteer Opportunities and Training:  Many of Tidewell’s services are provided by support from their well-trained, dedicated volunteers.  The volunteer opportunities exist in the areas of: administrative support, bereavement support, and complementary services (the use of music, art pet therapy, touch/energy therapy or horticulture).  There are also volunteer opportunities in the areas of Transitions, the teen program and the vigil program.  All volunteers are provided with the training needed to perform their task with confidence.

For 30 years, Tidewell has been providing this very important, caring and sincere service to our community.  It is an organization that touches people at their most vulnerable and gives dignity and grace to life’s most challenging passage.  To learn more about Tidewell Hospice, please visit their website:  www.tidewell.org.