Click on the links below to find answers to questions you may have regarding our care and services. If you have further questions or would like further information feel free to call us at 508-825-8325 or email us.
Who might need our services?
Any person of any age who has been diagnosed with any type of life-threatening illness would benefit from our services, from the time of diagnosis through cure, or, if cure is not possible, through advancing illness and death.
Families and friends of persons with such illnesses and persons coping with grief also benefit from our educational and support services, even when we have not provided care for the person with the illness.
Where are the services provided?
Services are provided in any setting — home, hospital, or nursing home — depending on the needs of our patients and families.
What types of services are provided?
In earlier phases of illness, consultative visits for education, basic counseling, support, assistance with decisions, advance care planning, strategies for pain & symptom management, coaching for regaining and optimizing wellness, etc. are provided at our office, either on a short-term or on an ongoing basis.
For patients whose illness is advanced and who need comprehensive care, we provide physical, emotional, and spiritual care on an ongoing basis, most often in the home. Compassionate and skillful end-of-life care for patients and support for their families is a hallmark of our program.
Services include:
Physical exams & treatment to help control symptoms & improve comfort;
Basic counseling, education, and emotional support for patients & families;
Assistance with decisions about treatments, advance care planning (Living Wills, Health Care Proxies, etc.), and help with decisions regarding end-of-life care;
Mind/Body Stress Reduction for patients & families;
Spiritual support for patients & families;
Practical help and respite breaks;
Coping with Cancer Support Group for patients and families;
Caregivers’ Connections Program;
Bereavement services for families in grief, including children;
Lending library of resource information.
Who provides the care?
Palliative & Supportive Care of Nantucket has an Interdisciplinary Team of professionals (from nursing, medicine, and social work) and lay volunteers to help meet the needs of patients and families in a holistic manner. This means that we try to pay attention to mind, body, and spirit as we provide care. The members of our team are available to all our patients and families, but not every patient wants or needs every member of the team and that is fine. Our patients never have to change doctor, clergy, or other staff. We work with our patients’ regular physicians and their own minister, if they so desire. If they’re receiving home health, hospital, or nursing home care, we work very closely with those staff members in order to provide patients with the best care possible in a very coordinated manner.
What does it cost to receive PASCON services?
All services provided directly by staff of our Palliative & Supportive Care Program are provided free of charge and are not covered by insurance. This free care is made possible due to the generosity of the community and the fundraising efforts of the Palliative & Supportive Care of Nantucket Foundation, which provides financial support for our program. When a patient requires the services of another agency or department in addition to our program, i.e., a visiting nurse agency, hospital inpatient unit, Our Island Home, etc., those agencies or departments will bill patients in their usual manner.
How would someone apply for PASCON care?
Anyone can request any service which we offer simply by calling our office, or by discussing a referral with a doctor, nurse, clergy person, etc. If admission for comprehensive care seems appropriate, we would obtain all necessary orders from your physician who would continue to direct your medical care.