Complementary therapies add an extra dimension of care to Hospice’s commitment to nurturing the body, mind, and spirit. These non-invasive, holistic practices do not replace the medical, social, or spiritual care of the hospice team. Rather, they work with the total care of the interdisciplinary team to promote comfort and wholeness for both patients and their families.
Complementary Therapy services are provided by staff, volunteers, and interns. They are available, by referral, to homecare and facility patients throughout the Trellis Supportive Care service area, North Carolina's original hospice and palliative care provider, and to patients being cared for at the Kate B. Reynolds Hospice Home.
Gentle Touch Therapies
Patients cope with illnesses that often increase pain and discomfort, and that can distance the connection they share with caregivers through touch. The gentle and individualized care of highly trained professionals can restore the experience of touch as a point of connection, comfort, and nurturing. Massage Therapy, Reflexology, Healing Touch, and Reiki — Gentle Touch Therapies help to address pain, anxiety, sleeplessness, and isolation by utilizing adaptable interventions to meet each patient’s unique needs. Practitioners work with patients across a range of functional ability, supporting patients throughout the dying process.
Music Therapy
Music is a powerful element of life — it energizes, soothes, restores, and nurtures. In hospice care, music therapy is a powerful tool for physical, emotional, and spiritual care. Music therapists mold live music to decrease anxiety and pain, to promote relaxation, to facilitate communication, and to provide support in life review and legacy work. Patients may, but do not always, actively engage in music therapy sessions. Music therapists adapt music as a supportive tool that may include listening to live music, songwriting, and improvisation. Music therapists work with patients at all stages throughout a patient’s journey and decline, joining with patients and families to foster meaning and comfort.
