Patient & Family Care
Your support cares for our community through all the seasons of life.
Thank you and your team for the compassion that is not learned and for kindness that goes far above and beyond.
Jaimie Bachmayer
Patient
Guiding with Compassion Through Difficult Times
From the joy of welcoming a new child to the challenges of caring for aging family members or facing life threatening illness, we are here for our community, generation after generation. Your generosity makes possible programs that wrap our patients and families in love and support as they journey through life’s inevitable transitions and challenges.
How We Care for the Community
Palliative Care provides hope, compassion, and direction to patients and families as they navigate the unchartered territory of complex or serious illness. Palliative Care teams improve the quality of life for patients by reducing physical and emotional suffering, and helping patients and families articulate and achieve goals of care—no matter the diagnosis or state of the disease.
Recognizing the dynamic and complex nature of serious illness, Palliative Care teams assist patients and families by:
- Providing a continuum of coordinated, person-centered care in partnership with doctors, nurses, counselors, pharmacists, and therapists
- Reducing pain and anxiety through approximately 900 massage therapy treatments with measured effectiveness showing 40% reduction in pain; 50% reduction in anxiety; and 40% improvement in well-being
- Facilitating individual conversations and small group classes to encourage Advance Care Planning/Medical Directives
- Building nursing expertise around pain management, end of life care, and long-term illness holistic treatment goals
Just as it has for more than a century, excellent, personalized care defines our Sentara Martha Jefferson Caring Tradition. The Caring Tradition Fund enables us to act quickly wherever the need is greatest. Your support reduces anxiety and wraps patients and families in love and care through small touches, from glider chairs for parents comforting their children, to massage therapy for patients, to the Acts of Kindness program, which empowers staff to buy flowers or other small items for patients in need.
Philanthropic support also makes possible the Caregiver Center, a respite space for family caregivers, where they find practical resources and emotional support to meet the challenges of caring for loved ones.
Please support compassionate care in our community
Providing this type of support to our community is only possible through generous donations from our community.