Services
The WillowBrook Hospice Interdisciplinary Team
A medically directed team of professionals provides hospice services. This team includes physicians, nurses, social workers, home health aides, spiritual support counselor, physical, occupational, and speech rehabilitation therapists, trained volunteers and bereavement support. Hospice care is delivered on an intermittent basis as needed by the individual. Our services are available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
Medical Director:
Dr. Bobby J. White has a private practice at Vanderbilt Health Services in Franklin, TN.Dr. White provides medical direction to our team and is available to consult with the patients' attending physician.
Physicians:
Your personal physician and Willowbrook’s interdisciplinary team work together to develop an individual plan of care. Your doctor is in close contact with the other members of our hospice team.
Nurses:
A Willowbrook Hospice nurse is assigned to each patient. Our nurses specialize in palliative care, which focuses on comfort measures rather than a cure. They provide the patient and family with information concerning the illness while helping to manage the pain and symptoms of the disease. Our nurses make intermittent visits to monitor and evaluate the patient’s condition. The Willowbrook nurse also acts as a liaison between the patient, the physician, and other health care professionals.
Medical Social Workers:
Our social workers serve as counselors to the patient and family. They assist the family with financial and legal matters and help them understand the challenges of illness and the dying process. They help the patient and family cope with issues such a grief, stress, and relationships. The social worker helps promote family communication. They can arrange volunteer support and other services available in the community.
Rehabilitation Therapy:
Physical, occupational, and speech therapists are available through hospice to help our patients maintain comfort and quality of life. These services are provided as needed to the individual patient.
Home Health Aides:
Our home health aides are trained to assist with personal care for the patient. These areas include personal grooming and bathing, light housekeeping, meal preparation, and many other tasks as needs arise. The aides provide a much needed break for the caregiver and offer both physical and emotional support. These services are provided on an intermittent basis.
Spiritual Support Counselors:
Spiritual issues are a vital part of the care for hospice patients. Hospice spiritual support counselors are trained in end of life spiritual needs and provide pastoral visits for the patient and family as requested. Assistance with memorial services and funerals are available at the family’s request.
Volunteers:
Hospice volunteers are often referred to as “The Heart of Hospice”. They are motivated by their dedication to the hospice mission and their compassion for patients, families, and the communities they serve.
Our volunteers are key members of the Hospice Team that help individuals deal with illness, grief, and loss. Volunteers provide companionship for the patient and relief for the caregiver. Our volunteers perform many functions including sitting with patients, running errands for the patient and caregiver, providing emotional support, and relaying pertinent information to other members of the interdisciplinary team.
Our volunteer training includes an introduction to Hospice, the patient-family volunteer role, concepts of death and dying, communication skills, care and comfort measures, disease and medical conditions, psychosocial and spiritual issues related to death and dying, stress management, bereavement, infection control, safety, confidentiality, and patient rights. The volunteer is an integral part of the team offering a special kind of care that further supports the patient, family, and staff.
Anyone interested in volunteering can contact Willowbrook at 615-791-8499. Please ask for Dianne Garnett or Perry Muse.
Bereavement:
Trained staff and volunteers provide support for family and caregivers on issues of grief and loss for 13 months following the patient's death. Bereavement support consists of mailings and phone calls, memorial services, grief support groups, and limited individual counseling.