“You are not alone. Our compassionate Island team is here to make life’s hardest transitions easier.” These are the first words that greet you when visiting the new website for Hospice & Palliative Care of Martha’s Vineyard (HPCMV). The organization, which is 45 years old, focuses on comfort, dignity, and quality of life — managing pain and symptoms while supporting the patient and their family’s emotional, spiritual, and practical needs. As they say, “Care for the last phase of life should center the whole person and all the people who matter.”
Executive Director Chantale Patterson spoke about HPCMV’s origins: “It was started at a community meeting among Islanders, to talk about whether we think hospice is something the Vineyard needs. They decided, Yes, we want to do this. They identified a chair, incorporated, and by 1982, it was fully operational, with one paid social worker funded by anonymous donors, and 24 volunteers.” Patterson adds, “What’s interesting is that what stood out then and still stands out now is this feeling that this is the Island’s hospice. We started this, we brought it here, we’ve held it up for 45 years. There’s an investment in the organization to ensure that it continues to stay and be available for Islanders.”
Hospice is compassionate care for those facing a serious illness when the focus shifts from treatment and cure to comfort and quality of life. “Hospice isn’t about dying. It’s about living,” Patterson notes. An Island-based expert hospice team partners with the patient, their family, and caregivers to create a personalized care plan. On-Island nurses, hospice physicians, social workers, spiritual care counselors, aides and CNAs, and patient-care volunteers see clients in the place they call home — whether that be their house, hospital, or assisted-living accommodations. They also work with unhoused patients.
Palliative care for symptom and disease management is for people dealing with serious illness, who may or may not be dealing with end of life. Patterson explains, “Palliative services are for those folks who aren’t quite ready yet. Either they aren’t ready, or the disease presents itself as something that will be longer than six months to a year. They are likely still seeking curative treatment as well.”
Palliative care is about helping patients achieve the best possible quality of life. HPCMV’s palliative-care team works closely with the patient, caregivers, and doctors to help manage the patient’s condition, with a focus on living well. The team, consisting of a social worker, spiritual care counselor, nurse, and medical director, helps oversee and streamline medications, communicate with multiple providers, and identify overlapping or unnecessary appointments that may add stress or risk for the patient and family.
HPCMV’s grief support is robust, offering grief and bereavement services for adults, children, and families coping with the death of someone close to them — whether or not they were an HPCMV patient. “For a lot of hospices, grief services will be a newsletter or a call after someone passes away. What’s unique is that we offer one-on-one counseling for 13 months to any hospice family we’ve cared for, as well as anyone on the Island who has had a loss in the past three years,” says Patterson. “We recognize that there isn’t a huge service available for folks facing grief, and mental illness is such a huge issue these days. To try and meet the needs of the Island, we have kept it open to everyone here.”
HPCMV also offers preparatory grief support to patients as they navigate the emotional impact of serious illness while approaching the end of life. And for families and caregivers, grief support can ease the transition both before and after a death.
Patterson adds, “We’ve expanded our services to kids as well. We not only offer children’s grief counseling but children’s bereavement and grief events.” There is Camp by the Sea, a one-day family grief camp at Slough Farm for children in grades K-8 who have experienced the death of someone close to them. HPCMV also holds events with expressive activities that offer opportunities to connect and make memories. There are Sweets by the Sea, a supervised Valentine’s candy-making and crafting session, and Seedlings by the Sea, a facilitated planting workshop.
For the Island at large, HPCMV is holding a community remembrance event on Oct. 3 at State Beach, at the handicap entrance, at 5:30 pm. “We do remembrance events internally because it’s so important to deal with cumulative grief with our staff and families. It occurred to us to do one for the entire community. If there is someone you would like to remember, meet us on the beach. We’ll have rocks to paint and sign. There will be a short ceremony honoring those who have left us, and then we will release the rocks into the ocean.”
Patterson notes that HPCMV’s extensive offerings extend beyond the hospice services covered by Medicare: “Up until 2022, we were one of only two hospices in the entire country that had a fully paid staff that was funded only through philanthropic efforts and grants. That wouldn’t happen in every community. The majority of palliative care and our bereavement services are not funded through insurance. The rest of that funding comes through the generosity of donors, our community, and grant funding.”
Patterson says, “I think one of the most common myths of hospice is that it’s for the final days of life, so people often wait too long to call. You are not alone, and truthfully you always think it’s too soon until it’s too late.”
View Circuit Films’ PSA for Hospice & Palliative Care of Martha’s Vineyard at bit.ly/CF_HPC. For more information, go to hospiceofmv.org.
