News

September 20th kicks off National Fall Prevention Week.  While our VNA team frequently works with individuals after a fall, we want to raise awareness on how to prevent a fall.  We use “6 Tips to Help Prevent Falls” from the National Council on Aging to educate our patients in their home.  As a physical therapist working in home health, I spend a lot of time on the balance and physical exercise portion.  However, I also find that the 5th tip, keeping your home safe, is one of the easiest things to focus on and change, but many people do not correct potentially dangerous situations.

VNA has provided Home Health services to Douglas County and the immediately surrounding areas since 1969, but 40 years ago, in 1981, a need was recognized within the community for specialized care for the terminally ill. Hospice Care in Douglas County, the earliest form of VNA’s Hospice program, was organized in August of 1981 to provide this necessary care. “Just like our agency’s 50th anniversary two years ago, our Hospice program’s 40th anniversary represents an important milestone, not only for our organization, but for our community,” says VNA C.E.O. Cynthia Lewis. “Our Hospice program was created to meet a need within the community 40 years ago and has met that need by providing compassionate end-of-life care since 1981.”

In-home services encompass many different types of care.  Homecare ranges from non-medical services like grooming and light housekeeping, offered through private duty services, to necessary medical care, offered through home health and hospice services.  Many patients...

Most everyone is familiar with a Birthing Doula, a person trained to provide advice, information, emotional and physical comfort to a mother before, during and just after childbirth.  Not many people know that Doulas can help at any stage of life, including the end-of-life.  An end-of-life Doula is there to support, educate and advocate for an individual’s life journey and to assist them through the inevitable experience.  Using a Doula can help give the individual more control over their experience.  As a Hospice Manager with Douglas County Visiting Nurses, I have seen that there are groups of people in our communities who are not getting all the help and support they need to have the enriched end-of-life experience they deserve.