Seacoast Hospice Presents
B.O.A.T.I.N.G.
Before Offering Another Treatment, Identify New Goals

B.O.A.T.I.N.G. is a 30-minute stage performance that gives insight into when to begin palliative care as opposed to aggressive, curative treatment, and the impact it has at the end of life.

B.O.A.T.I.N.G. is a powerful, one act play that also provides insight into the benefits and burdens of treatment at the end of life. Originally designed as an educational tool for healthcare providers, B.O.A.T.I.N.G. speaks to everyone at a deeply personal level about a subject that has or will impact each of us.

Written by Jill Bixby, NP, MA, BSN, in Augusta, Maine, B.O.A.T.I.N.G. was inspired by a vivid dream of the author. She had been wrestling with a way to educate physicians and other medical professionals on the importance of recognizing the point at which aggressive curative treatment might no longer be the patient's goal. When is the right time to refer to palliative care and hospice?

Palliative care, also called comfort care, is directed at providing relief to a terminally ill person through pain and symptom management. It is appropriate for patients who no longer wish to pursue curative treatment, but who choose to have their pain and symptoms aggressively managed, and to achieve the highest possible quality of life for as long as life remains. Providing good care includes introducing the patient and his/her family to comfort care at the time of a life-threatening diagnosis, with referrals made to hospice when the patient is ready.

Comprehensive palliative and hospice care programs also address emotional and spiritual needs. The focus of these care programs is not on death, but on compassionate, specialized care for the living.

Volunteers and staff of Seacoast Hospice, under the direction of the Volunteer Department, perform B.O.A.T.I.N.G.

For more information contact the Volunteer Office at
Seacoast Hospice, 10 Hampton Road, Exeter NH 03833 1-800-416-9207