WHEN faced with a diagnosis of an incurable illness like cancer that is life threatening, the patient, his family and friends embark on what is described as "the journey of hospice care".


The journey of hospice care is often a roller-coaster experience and the patient and loved ones need to understand the illness so as to weather the storm.


The Methodist Hospice Fellowship (MHF) is conducting education and training sessions for family caregivers and volunteers at Bethany Methodist Nursing Home, Choa Chu Kang Avenue 4, on the 4th Saturday of each month from 3 to 5 pm. The sessions, which began in July, will end in October 2004. The MHF is a ministry of the Methodist Welfare Services of The Methodist Church in Singapore.


From experience, it has been found that there are five "checkpoints" in this journey. They are:
Checkpoint 1: "First Encounter" - this is the stage in which the patient and family members struggle to come to terms with the diagnosis. Issues to be addressed include the sharing of the bad news and coping with the diagnosis of an incurable and life threatening illness.
Checkpoint 2: "Fighting The Battle" - in this stage, the patient and family members have to struggle with decisions with regard to the various forms of treatment such as surgery, chemotherapy, radiotherapy, etc. They are often overwhelmed with all kinds of information and need help to sort out the information that is useful for deciding on the choice of therapy.
Checkpoint 3: "The Adventure of Dying" -- there comes a time when curative treatment is no longer an option and the patient and the family have to face the reality of death. The focus also shifts from curative treatment to symptomatic treatment or palliative care. The challenge is to help the patient and family members find hope even though there is no cure available.
Checkpoint 4: "See You in Heaven" -- this is the stage when the patient is "actively dying" and the family needs support as well as skills to handle the issues arising from end-of-life care.
Checkpoint 5: "Recharging Our Batteries" -- this is the time when the caregivers need to come to terms with their bereavement.

Methodist Hospice Fellowship volunteers. -- MWS picture.