About QLC
since 2006
Home base is Austin, Texas
My name is Deanna Cochran. I am a RN certified in Hospice and Palliative Care, working in the end of life field since 2000. More about me.
In January 2006, Quality of Life Care (QLC) was founded to bring awareness, information, resources and support to people and their families living with life-limiting illness*, as well as to their circle of family, friends, and trusted advisers.
The main purpose of this website is to bring food for thought. Deanna writes of and from her experiences and throws in whatever else is of interest. She invites you to submit articles as well.
“I want the site to be more personal and thought provoking than strictly educational or heavy on opinion. I bring bits of my life and thoughts here. I want to share with the visitor that even though I’m in this field, the issues surrounding illness, dying and death affect me just as profoundly.” Her easy conversational style is a departure from other educational and resource based websites. “There are many websites on-line already that are strictly educational; I have listed them on the right hand side of the page on top of and underneath the videos.”
Deanna Cochran, RN, BA, CHPN is the founder of QLC. She provides information to the public via presentations, workshops and her blog and collaborates with other professionals to inform the public about the issues surrounding life-threatening illness and end-of-life.
Quality of Life Care
Mission: To build a bridge of support for families from the time period when treatments begin to stop working through bereavement.
Vision: QLC envisions a world where every person has access to high quality care to relieve suffering prior to the beginning of hospice services, especially during the time of irreversible, declining health.
Values: The sharing of information to enhance quality of life is what guides every action within QLC.
Focus: QLC focuses on the time period between “when-treatments-begin-to-stop-working (’the in-between’)” and bereavement.
Goals:
1. To inform the:
• People with life-threatening illness
• Primary caregiver
• Immediate family of the ill person
• Circle of friends, family and trusted advisors surrounding the immediate family.
• Students in the various fields of healthcare
• New professionals in end-of-life care
• Direct-care medical professionals including physical, occupational and speech therapists, home health, etc.
• Ancillary professionals to the medical field, i.e.: Assisted Living and Nursing Home administrators and their personnel
• Professionals surrounding direct physical care: hospital discharge planners, case managers, medical social workers, chaplains
• Non-medical professionals closely involved with families
2. To provide additional resources for medical and non-medical professionals who will be assisting people with life-limiting illness.
3. To bring into awareness various thoughts, rituals, healing modalities, beliefs and practices.
Topics: Palliative care, concerns of the elderly, end-of-life, leaders in palliative care, news articles, dying and death
This site’s ultimate purpose is to
share experiences and information which may help the seriously ill, their primary caregiver, and the circle of family, friends and trusted advisors around them.
*Life-limiting illness has many faces: a debilitating illness that is not life-threatening * life-threatening illness that is not terminal * terminal illness * the predictable, natural decline in the health of an elder * an unforeseen mental/physical decline of a loved one * chronic, end-stage disease processes
Huge Note!! The contents of this website are my opinion only. The articles written by other writers are their thoughts only and not endorsed by me. My purpose here is to bring food for thought. You are totally responsible for your own research and decisions regarding the matters that affect your life.
