Visiting Nurse Association & Hospice Foundation, Inc.

Available to both home health and hospice patients, this program integrates the therapeutic use of music as a medical intervention that has seen exceptional improvement in patient outcomes. Used successfully with multiple issues including Parkinson’s, Alzheimer’s and brain injury, as well as many other conditions, music therapy provides an opportunity for brain stimulation, physical interaction and just plain fun. The VNA Music Therapy Program is staffed by board-certified music therapists who are required to achieve a bachelor’s degree, 1,200 hours of direct training and ongoing continuing-education requirements. Music therapy addresses the physical, emotional, and spiritual needs of a patient and helps them achieve their goal.

Providing access, improving preventative and wellness care and helping our community is at the core of VNA & Hospice Foundation’s mission. VNA’s Community Health Services provides low-cost medical services through the VNA Mobile Health Clinic, health and wellness screenings and education and vaccine programs throughout our community. On almost any day of the week, VNA nurses provide blood pressure, glucose and cholesterol screenings at wellness clinics in residential communities and public gathering places across our community. These simple community outreach efforts go a long way in offering an easy, no-cost solution to anyone who wants to keep an eye on their health.

As part of our hospice program, the VNA provides emotional and grief support throughout and after a patient’s hospice journey. We also provide 13 months of bereavement counseling to family members after the loss of a loved one. Since each person will have his or her own way and timeline for grieving, our bereavement program has multiple methods to help family members cope. Bereavement counselors are available for one-on-one or group sessions to help individuals cope with the loss of a loved one.
For a child, the loss of a loved one can be devastating and understanding the feelings that come afterwards can be confusing. To help children understand and cope with their emotions, the VNA offers Camp Chrysalis twice a year for Indian River County children between ages 6-12. It is the only camp in the community focused on children and their unique and personal bereavement needs.

Project Wish is just one of the many ways patients and families experience how hospice care is about quality of life, living every day to the fullest and sharing important moments. Assisted by volunteers dedicated to networking when patient wishes are submitted, the Wish Team works quickly to try to see that each patient’s wish comes true. It’s wholistic in the sense that hospice cares for the whole person¬—body, mind and spirit. Project Wish aims to curate the best possible experience for the patient and their families, working around the social, physical and spiritual limitations that are present at end of life.

Delivering high quality care means keeping up with technology. Telemonitoring provides a safe, cost-effective solution to care for patients living with a chronic disease. It allows patients to live safely at home and keep them out of the hospital, reducing healthcare costs down and stress on the patient. Through the VNA’s Telemonitoring Program, devices are placed in the patient’s home and connected through a phone line. Every day, the patient interacts with the device by answering questions for symptom analysis and takes readings such as weight, blood pressure, pulse rate and oxygen levels. That information is transmitted to the VNA and examined by a nurse practitioner. VNA staff can provide interventions and/or follow up with telephone, tele-conference or home visits.

The VNA believes that every person in need should have access to quality care, regardless of their financial situation. The VNA is the only local, non-profit home health and hospice provider that accepts all patients thanks to the support of our donors. Money raised allows us to provide vital health care services to those in the community who are under or un-insured. Caring for our most vulnerable populations allows us to reinvest in our community, creating a healthier place to work and live.

The VNA’s Mobile Health Clinic has been on the road since 2000, offering same day, non-emergency care at little or no cost. In collaboration with the Indian River Hospital District, the mobile clinic serves the county by bringing access to healthcare for those who are under or un-insured. Advanced practice registered nurses (APRNs) aboard the clinic can examine, diagnose and prescribe medications for minor, non-urgent illnesses such as sore throats, earaches and minor cuts. This mobile clinic is essential for getting out and serving vulnerable people in our community.