From its annual children’s grief camp and caregiver confidence workshops to goody bag deliveries, Trellis Supportive Care, North Carolina's original hospice and palliative care provider, offers layers of support beyond traditional hospice care. Its free-standing building dedicated to grief support with counselors available — not just after someone passes but during the time people are in the process of living — speaks volumes about the unique work Trellis does to enhance the emotional, spiritual, and social well-being of those in need.
“Our goal is to help families create a scenario where loss can be woven into the fabric of their lives instead of standing out as a traumatic experience,” said Ginnie White, senior vice president of clinical operations for Trellis Supportive Care. “Hospice isn’t about dying. It’s about living every day and supporting patients and families so that they can make the most of each day together.”
Since 1979, Trellis Supportive Care has been doing just that, serving 13 counties in the Piedmont Triad community with a staff of specially trained professionals including physicians, nurse practitioners, nurses, nursing aides, social workers, chaplains, and complementary therapists. The team’s goal is to help patients and their families live fully and comfortably even during life’s most challenging time. In fact, the first person in North Carolina to receive hospice care was a Trellis patient. Today, that personalized and compassionate care takes place in the homes of more than 400 patients, and in Trellis’ family-oriented Kate B. Reynolds Hospice Home when needed. Trellis support is available 24-hours a day so that help is there whenever families need it.
Because Trellis professionals understand how overwhelming it can be to provide care for a loved one, they offer caregiver confidence workshops. The program includes everything from setting up a safe environment and administering medication to instruction on getting somebody out of a car and into a wheelchair. “We don’t grow up knowing those things,” said White. Attendees also get to experience a session with one of Trellis’ aroma or massage therapists. “We tell caregivers this is the hardest job they will ever do, so they need to take care of themselves along the way,” explained White.
Advance care planning is another service Trellis provides, which, like most of its offerings, is free of charge and available to anybody in the community, not just those who have had a hospice experience or have a Trellis connection. “It’s about thinking through the kind of care you would want, and who would speak for you, if you were in a sudden accident or seriously ill and unable to make decisions for yourself,” said Ann E. Gauthreaux, senior director of public relations. “This planning process includes designating your Healthcare Power of Attorney and communicating your wishes through a Living Will,” she added. Trellis staff make it easy and understandable.
While grief counseling is one of the services all Medicare-certified hospices must provide, Trellis goes above and beyond the requirements. “We have counselors available to lead family discussions and talk about what it feels like to care for someone in your home who is dying,” said White. “Families surrounding someone who is very ill or getting ready to die, whether it be in two years or two weeks, have a lot of needs.”
And at Trellis, after the death of a person in their hospice program, grief support for the caregivers continues for 13 months. “We are proud to be able to go well above the requirement and offer our grief counseling, not just to those we serve in our hospice care, but to anyone in the community who has experienced the loss of a loved one,” shared Gauthreaux. “Our doors are open for one-on-one grief sessions as well as support groups,” she added. Support groups offer an opportunity for people who have experienced similar losses, be it the loss of a child, spouse, loss to suicide, or other loss, to come together to find support and receive professional counseling.
Then there are the personalized experiences Trellis has created over the years. Because each patient is unique, and their goals and wishes are unique, the care is very personalized. For instance, when one of their patients couldn’t attend their daughter’s high school graduation, Trellis worked with the school to create a small ceremony at the hospice campus with the school’s principal in attendance along with educators and classmates. Countless other stories echo the notion that the care is less about dying, and more about living each day as fully and comfortably as possible.
For White, the work she does at Trellis is more than just a job — it's personal. “I cherish knowing what we do makes a difference every day in the lives of every patient and their family members, too.”
For more information, visit TrellisSupport.org.
