News Articles

National Homecare and Hospice Month

Date: 10/28/2009

Nat'l Homecare & Hospice Month Proclamation and new Caregiver website launch

VNA and the City of Butler are recognizing National Homecare and Hospice Month during November, 2009. The Mayor of the City of Butler, Margaret D. Stock, has issued a proclamation recognizing the importance of home health care and hospice care and their value to our community and citizens. View the Major's proclamation and learn more about homecare and hospice services .

VNA of Western Pennsylvania had launched CelebrateHomeCare.com, a Web site dedicated to helping caregivers in the community find the support and information they need when caring for a loved one. The announcement of the all-new Web site CelebrateHomeCare.com is in coordination with National Home Care and Hospice Month, celebrated each November.

A caregiver is anyone who provides help to another person in need. Usually the person has a chronic medical condition, dementia, cancer or a brain injury and needs basic help with daily tasks. There are hundreds upon thousands of caregivers right here in the community who are spending countless hours providing love and support to those who require extra assistance such as grocery shopping and food preparation, medicine administration and therapy, dressing and using the bathroom, paying the bills, along with cleaning and household maintenance. The to-do list for a caregiver is endless and often causes a person to undergo serious amounts of stress or even burnout.

“Caring for a loved one is a full-time job and a stressful one at that. Our hope is that CelebrateHomeCare.com will relieve caregivers of burnout they may be experiencing by providing helpful information about services available to assist in caring for loved ones,” says Kristy Wright, CEO and President, VNA of Western Pennsylvania. “Our hearts go out to our community of caregivers. It’s important to us to do what we can to help support them by making life a little bit easier and hopefully more manageable.”

CelebrateHomeCare.com offers caregivers some much needed relief by way of the Caregivers Stress Test, an interactive exam helping individuals better understand if they need a hand. The site also features printable checklists about home safety, preventing falls, and supportive information regarding the resources available in the area to care for loved ones in need.

The Web site also debuts a blog – ‘Wright @ Home’ – authored by the VNA’s own Kristy Wright. Ms. Wright has been a health and home care professional her entire career. She will use her blog to share her experiences, knowledge and opinions on hot topics such as healthcare reform and the Obama administration, caregiver stress relievers, as well as aging baby boomers and rising eldercare costs. Ms. Wright will contribute to her blog weekly so check out ‘Wright @ Home’ by visiting www.celebratehomecare.com.

Coming early next year, CelebrateHomeCare.com will also become a town hall of sorts for caregivers to meet one another and share experiences and information. CelebrateHomeCare.com will open up the airwaves allowing visitors to talk to one another, talk directly with the VNA of Western Pennsylvania, in addition to featuring live chats with caregivers and more. CelebrateHomeCare.com will be an open forum where visitors can join in the discussion with other caregivers and offer each other advice and a shoulder to lean on.

To see the all-new caregivers Web site created by VNA of Western Pennsylvania, please visit www.celebratehomecare.com and take a look around.

About VNA of Western Pennsylvania
VNA of Western Pennsylvania was founded in 1965 as a volunteer, community-based nonprofit home health care organization. Dedicated to providing care to patients of all ages regardless of their ability to pay, VNA services include nursing, personal care aides, private duty, hospice, medical equipment, remote health monitoring, emergency response system, health screening and wellness promotion. VNA is Medicare certified and accredited by The Joint Commission. For more information, please call 1-877-862-6659.