Boquete Health and Hospice April Newsletter

[Boquete Health and Hospice]

Welcome to the newsletter of Boquete Health and Hospice Is this email not displaying correctly?  View it in your browser. Thank You Doctor Osborne! Boquete Health and Hospice gives a big THANK YOU to Dr. Newton Osborne. When Boquete Health and Hospice formed in 2007, we needed a Medical Director in compliance with the guidelines of hospices in the U.S. and the Palliative Care initiative locally.   Dr. Newton Osborne graciously agreed to fill that position and has performed that service since our inception.  Boquete Health and Hospice appreciates all that he has done for us and we thank Newton very, very much for having fulfilled the role as Medical Director when we needed him most.  BHHF Annual Board Retreat The Boquete Health and Hospice annual board retreat was held in April to discuss the goals and mission of our organization. The Mission Statement was updated.  Our Mission Since 2007, Boquete Health & Hospice  Foundation (BHHF) has provided free, caring assistance to people with temporary illness or at the end of life.  Our Mission is to inform and promote community health; and, to support people with health and wellness needs by providing information, equipment and services. 2018 Goals The goals for the coming year include increasing participants in the Blood Donor Program; continue our outreach to the community for better name recognition and utilization of services; provide continuing education on health related topics at our monthly meetings and presentations like Being Prepared: and provide local medical services information to the community through the Health Fair. Being Prepared   May 22, at BCP 10:30 Being Prepared by BHHF Part 1: Getting Started/Restarted How many of your friends know how to contact your loved ones back home in an emergency?  Who would you call for help here in an emergency?  Do you know medical or end of life decisions cannot be made by a spouse, friend or partner without proper documents? Come to BHHF’s Being Prepared presentation, Getting Started/Restarted, and find out how to be prepared here in Boquete. We will go through these forms to help you get organized. * 1. Buddy Connection 2.  When Someone Dies at Home in Boquete 3.  Final Arrangements Check List 4.  Information Needed On a Panamanian Death Certificate 5.  Important Information Notebook *A packet of these forms will be available at all presentation for a small donation. Also included in this packet is information on the Five Wishes document to help you create your Living Will. May 29 at BCP at 10:30 Being Prepared by BHHF Part 2: The Living Will and Last Will  Do you need an attorney to develop your living will? Is your last will from your homeland valid in Panama? Juan Contreras, a Boquete attorney, will address Panamanian Living Wills and Last Wills. There will also be time for questions. Part 3: Workshop (TBD) Part of the Being Prepared process is creating a living will. If you need help in creating/developing a living will and have questions, attend our workshop (date and locations to be determined). Facilitators will be medical and counseling professionals to help answer your questions.  SHARE YOUR EXPERIENCES, SKILLS and KNOWLEDGE at OUR MONTHLY MEETINGS. SAVE THESE DATES! April 12 -  May 10 -  June 14 -  July 12 -  August 9 -  September 13 October 11 -  November 8 -  December 13 1:00 at the Amigos de Animales building in Alto Boquete To suggest topics & speakers write: Laurie Collier -  [e-mail] or Linda Sanchez - [e-mail] April Health Tip         Book Corner   The April book selection is Being Mortal: Medicine and What Matters in the End by Atul Gawande. The following is a review by one of our members: This book has become a must read. It addresses end-of-life care, and how we are getting it wrong, both within the medical establishment and in our families. Dr. Gawande’s book is a good read because it is a personal collection of stories. Its protagonists are people approaching the end of life, hoping always to lengthen their time, learning the inevitability of life’s end. Their stories are interspersed with the story of Gawande, the doctor learning more than he has been taught in medical school, how to talk to patients, especially at those times when medicine and surgery, “cures”, are no longer effective and may in fact lead to an earlier, more painful death than abandoning vain hope. It highlights the human needs during the ending stages of life. It’s not just quantity, but quality of life that counts. Gawande gives great advice for how to have the hard discussions and what the right questions are so that we can make the best decisions for ourselves and our loved ones. What really matters most to the individual? What makes life worth living? What trade-offs are you willing to make? A very good book! It will start some important discussions for sure.                   6,984 FIVE Star ratings can’t be wrong.   Please take 1 minute to view our descriptive video.  Click on the link: https://youtu.be/EbYmYqBRs3Y We have entered our video in the Video Festival. The festival has been postponed. Between June 1-14 go to the YouTube link and click on the thumbs up to vote for our video. You can only vote once. We will appreciate your votes!!                            To Make a Donation:   BHHF functions with the donations provided by the community. If you are interested in supporting the work we do, please make a donation. To make a financial contribution by check or cash contact Laurie Collier, our treasurer, at [e-mail]  to arrange a place and time to pick up your donation.  For more information, visit our website: www.boquetehealth.org We also have a Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/boqueteheartshandsandhelp/?ref=bookmarks Please Like our page and Share the contents with your friends and families. To Contact Us Hospice/Health: 507.6781.9250 Blood Donor Program: 507.6590.2000 E-mail: [e-mail] E-mail: [e-mail]   Confidentiality    All patient information shared with any Boquete Health and Hospice volunteer is kept in the strictest confidence.    Copyright © 2017 , All rights reserved. Our mailing address is: [e-mail]

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