Hebrew SeniorLife Receives Hospice Care Award

BOSTON – Hebrew SeniorLife announced it has received the Hospice Award of Distinction for the Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems (CAHPS), part of the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ), a federal agency. It has also been named a national best practice agency.

Hebrew SeniorLife Hospice Care works to bring meaning and fulfillment during the final stages of life, in addition to providing comfort and management of symptoms related to a patient’s illness. It provides care wherever a patient calls home, including private homes, congregate housing sites, skilled nursing and assisted living facilities, and in some cases acute care hospitals across more than 16 communities in Massachusetts. Service is provided at consistent regardless of location. For instance, a patient in a skilled nursing facility can expect to receive the same amount of support from the hospice team as if they were in a private home or assisted living facility. 

Hospice care continues for families and caregivers for a minimum of 13 months after a patient has passed. Hebrew SeniorLife’s multidisciplinary bereavement team consists of chaplains, social workers, and volunteers who meet regularly to review and discuss the difficulties that the bereaved are experiencing. 

Agencies named as national best practice agencies are proven leaders and have excelled in one of the most important measures of an agency’s quality program– caregiver experience. 

The CAHPS program works closely with a consortium of research organizations to conduct research on patient experience and develop surveys that ask consumers and patients to report on and evaluate their experiences with health plans, providers, and health care facilities. The survey for hospices was handled by Fazzi Associates, a best practice research and consulting firm specializing in home care, palliative care, and hospices.

“This recognition speaks volumes for our bereavement program,” said Maureen Bannan, Executive Director of Home and Community Based Services at Hebrew SeniorLife. “The team has done an exemplary job by ensuring that our bereaved are well supported in their grief process, which is why we’re proud we have earned this recognition.”

For nearly a decade, Hebrew SeniorLife Hospice Care has been providing end-of-life care that honors the dignity, comfort, and spiritual well-being of patients and families.

During COVID-19, Hebrew SeniorLife Hospice Care offered virtual Memorial Services to allow bereaved loved ones to join from all over the continental United States and Israel. Because Hospice Care operates within Hebrew SeniorLife, hospice staff received the latest guidelines and access to personal protective equipment supplies so they could continue to operate safely and comfortably care for patients and their families throughout the public health emergency. 

“Hospice team members realize that end of life care can be the most physically and emotionally challenging time for a patient and their family. Help can be needed in many ways, and our multidisciplinary care team honors the diversity of sensibilities and spiritual perspectives around life and death while caring for patients of all faiths,” said Matthew Smith, Hebrew SeniorLife’s Director of Hospice Clinical Services. 

About Hebrew SeniorLife
Hebrew SeniorLife is a national senior services leader uniquely dedicated to rethinking, researching, and redefining the possibilities of aging. Hebrew SeniorLife cares for more than 3,000 seniors a day across six campuses throughout Greater Boston. Our locations include: Hebrew Rehabilitation Center-Boston and Hebrew Rehabilitation Center-NewBridge in Dedham; NewBridge on the Charles, Dedham; Orchard Cove, Canton; Simon C. Fireman Community, Randolph; Center Communities of Brookline, Brookline; and Jack Satter House, Revere. Founded in 1903, Hebrew SeniorLife also conducts influential research into aging at the Hinda and Arthur Marcus Institute for Aging Research and trains more than 1,000 geriatric care providers each year. For more information about Hebrew SeniorLife, visit  https://www.hebrewseniorlife.org or follow us on our blog, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and LinkedIn.