The Loop Newspaper - Tehachapi's Online Community News & Entertainment Guide

Zanya Biviano, community outreach volunteer for Optimal Hospice Care, told the Kiwanis Club of Tehachapi at its Aug. 3 meeting at Perfetto restaurant that often people who are preparing to die will share confidences with a neutral observer that they never have told anyone. Hospice volunteers, in comforting the terminally ill, may find that the patient needs to talk about long-buried childhood memories or issues. "It may be things that have never been addressed by the patient," she said. "We just listen. To me it's like sacred ground...I receive it as a gift." The mission of Bakersfield-based Optimal Hospice is to support people through the end stage of life in their own homes, wherever that may be. The Optimal Hospice team includes the patient, doctors, chaplains, social workers, home health aides and volunteers. Pain management is the number one concern, Biviano said. For families, she said, "It is hard to make that phone call" to find out about hospice care for a loved one. She said many families say they wish they had called sooner. Optimal offers grief support groups and sponsors high school "Dream Catchers" who grant wishes like a birthday party, a bedroom makeover, a photo album or beauty makeover to patients. Optimal also maintains camps for kids who have lost a sibling, parent or grandparent, and a foundation to help people who have exhausted their funding. For information and to ask for an evaluation, call 661-716-4000.