Mindy Worthley, standing left, and Janice Durland explain Rumford Hospital’s Comfort Care program to Rumford Area Rotarians.

Rotarians hear about hospital Comfort Care

RUMFORD – Mindy Worthley, Rumford Hospital case manager, and Janice Durland, med/surg nurse, explained the new Comfort Care program to the Rumford Area Rotary recently.

The hospital has always provided end-of-life care for its patients and their families, but Comfort Care is a more structured approach to that care.

“Although there are other forms of hospice care, such as in the home or in a special hospice house,” Worthley explained, “Sometimes the best place for a dying person is in the hospital.”

Comfort Care includes subtle and calming cards that are posted on patients’ doors, so that staff and visitors will know they should be quieter around that room and respectful of the end-of-life processes that are taking place there.

Comfort Care patients also have a poster placed on their walls with spaces where their loved ones can write in special information about the patients, such as nicknames, important people in the patients’ lives, favorite things and pets.

The poster includes a large space for photographs. “We’ve noticed that often families will display these ‘Sharing My Story’ posters at wakes and funerals,” Worthley said. “The posters are a celebration of patients’ lives.”

Recognizing that every patient and family has different needs and ways of approaching this time in their lives, Comfort Care includes an individualized patient assessment tool so the program can be adjusted to meet the singular needs of each patient and family.

Rumford Area Rotary meets at noon Mondays at Hope Association, the former armory on Lincoln Avenue. The group hosts speakers at most meetings. Rotary also sponsors fundraising events such as the lobster lunches and Oktoberfest to raise funds for local charities and college scholarships for high school seniors.