Thanks to a grant from the Vermont Department of Aging and Disabilities, Stratton House Nursing Home recently received $12,000 to be used to improve end-of-life care for its residents.

Carol VanderTuin, social worker and discharge planner at Stratton House, Heins Home and Grace Cottage, allocated part of the grant money to write and publish a 20-page booklet entitled Comfort Care: Patient and Family Information. Jeanine Scott, an Antioch college intern, assisted VanderTuin with the project. The book is available to the public; to request that a free copy be mailed to you, call Grace Cottage Foundation at (802) 365-9109.

"We recognize that it is both a privilege and a responsibility to help members of our community face death with dignity, respect, and as much comfort as possible," said VanderTuin. "Once you, your family and your doctor have talked about your wishes, your doctor can write orders for us to follow on your behalf. If the time comes that you are no longer able to communicate your needs, our doctors and nurses will do everything they can to meet your prior communicated wishes."

Thanks to a generous gift from the family of George and Molly Tomlinson, who both died at Grace Cottage, the hospital now has a private hospice room that includes an adjoining family room. For the comfort of those using it, the family room has a pull-out sofa bed, small refrigerator, microwave, separate bathroom, television, and stereo sound system. Some of the funds from the Palliative Care grant have been used to purchase and stock a Comfort Care Cart, which includes journals, craft items, cassettes and CDs, foot and hand lotions, and other items to help facilitate conversations between those who are dying and their loved ones.

Asignificant portion of the grant is being used to cover palliative care educational costs for Stratton House staff, physicians, residents, and their families, as well as the public in the communities served by Grace Cottage, and a lending library of books on grief and dying is being established.