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Boquete Health and Hospice Aug 2021 Newsletter


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Table of Contents
  • New Policies 
  • Mask Policy
  • Vaccination Policy
  • Amendments to the By-Laws
  • Looking for Volunteers
  • Slate of Officers for 2022
  • Help Needed
  • Volunteer Appreciation Lunch
  • Upcoming Events
  • Beverly Stearns
  • Arnold's Thoughts on COVID19 
  • Food Is Caring
  • Being Prepared Conversation
  • Shake Your Booty!
  • Chris's Corner Rosacea
  • Tree of Life
  • BHH Policies
  • Mission Statment
 
Presidents Letter
New Policies
To all our BHH members:
 
In response to the continued spread of the Covid-19 virus and its emerging variants in Panama, Boquete Health and Hospice has established a policy requiring that member volunteers who interact with the community, other team members or patients, to be fully vaccinated or have started the vaccination process by having completed the first dose of a two dose regimen against the Covid-19 virus.  On August 7, 2021, the BHH Council passed the following policies with the intention of further protecting our members and our community.  
 

Mask Policy
Effective immediately – all Boquete Health and Hospice personnel MUST wear masks continuously when representing BHH.   A BHH volunteer will be appointed at every in-person meeting/event to ensure that all safety precautions are followed.  If anyone notices that masks are not being worn or are being worn incorrectly, please ask the person not complying to adjust their mask.
 

Vaccination Policy
Any volunteer of Boquete Health and Hospice representing and interacting with members of the community must be vaccinated.  This applies to the Patient Care Coordinators, Equipment Team, Ambassadors, CPR Instructors, anyone leading a meeting or a class and the people representing BHH at the Tuesday Market.  (These are just examples).
 
Starting with the September 2021 New Member Training Class – all new members must be vaccinated.
 
A dispensation can be granted by the Council upon receipt of a negative antigen test performed within the previous 48 hours of the event and written test results provided prior to the event.  At the start of the event, the unvaccinated person must disclose to the audience that they are unvaccinated but have tested negative for the virus.
 
Our website (boquetehealth.org) has been updated to allow for the entry of the vaccine information.  Please go to the Information tab and the form to enter your vaccine information. It is on that page.  If you are vaccinated, it is important that we have that information..
 
Your prompt compliance is deeply appreciated as is your understanding of these new policies.
 
We are viewed in the community as a health care organization.  We must be held to a high standard.  Those current members who do not interact with the community or represent BHH, are grandfathered in and will not be required to be vaccinated.

 
Enter Vaccine Information
Amendments to the By-Laws

Two Amendments were proposed to the Council and were approved.  They were then presented to the membership at the August 11 General Meeting where both amendments were approved unanimously.
  • Amendment 1:    All occurrences of the word “Administrator” in the By-Laws shall be replaced with “Patient Care Coordinator”.
  • Amendment 2:  Article III, Section 1: The members of the Foundation Council shall consist of the President, Vice President Secretary, Treasurer, Past President and the three (3) most senior Patient Care Coordinators.  All Patient Care Coordinators shall be appointed by the Foundation Council and are voting Members of the Foundation Council.
BHH is looking for Volunteers
On Saturday, September 4, BHH will be joining Dra. Shannon Tuer on her morning radio show and on Thursday, December 9 at 11:00 a.m. BHH will be doing a presentation at the Thursday Talks at the Library.  The purpose of these two presentations is to:
What BHH is.
What BHH means to the community
How volunteers can help - Teams 
     Equipment
     Blood
     Ambassadors
     Translation
Applications for membership will be available at the December 9 talk.  Anyone interested in volunteering prior to that can complete the application on the BoqueteHealth.org website.


Slate of Officers for 2022
As of this newsletter the following is the proposed slate for 2022:
President ___________________________
Vice President _______________________
Secretary John Ferguson
Treasurer Laurie Collier

The job of President is to lead the organization:  prepare agendas for the Council Meetings and General Meetings, make sure the various Teams have what they need to be effective, provide vision and leadership for the organization, assist in the preparation of the Newsletter and encourage volunteers.  The job is not extremely challenging and does not require many hours per week.  The best part is that the Council, Team Leaders and volunteers are ALWAYS willing to help and offer support and advice.

The job of Vice President is two-fold:  Support the President and lead the Education Team.  The Vice President will cover for the President when they are not available, will verify the Council Minutes and other tasks as the President requests.  As Team Leader for the Education Team, the Vice President will arrange for the short medical trainings that happen during the General Meetings and help coordinate any other educational trainings that we provide (CPR, for example).

If you are interested in helping the organization by filling either of these two positions, please email Lesley Hughes (lesleyahughes@gmail.com)


Help Needed
Another place where we could use your help is on our Training Team.  We recently lost our Training Team Leader and would like to fill this vacancy as soon as possible.  This person would be responsible for coordinating the annual (or semi-annual) new member training.  If you can help us with this, please email Lesley Hughes. (lesleyahughes@gmail.com).

Our Meal Team is now under the able leadership of Leslie Sherling.  Please respond whenever she asks for your help in providing meals to members of our community.


Volunteer Appreciation Lunch
On December 1 there will be a Volunteer Appreciation event.  At this time we are not sure where,  whether it will be a brunch or a lunch or the times.  But it will take place.  Please put it on your calendar.  Seating will be limited and reservations will be required.  If you would like to help thank our wonderful volunteers, please email Lesley Hughes (lesleyahughes@gmail.com).  More information will be forthcoming.

If you are making donations to BHH via PayPal
With the change in Treasurer, it is necessary to go into your PayPal Account, delete the current transaction, go to the BoqueteHealth.orgwebsite and re-submit the donation.  This way it will go to the proper person.
 
Upcoming Events
 
  • Sept 1 – Zoom Council Meeting
  • Sept 8 – General Meeting (Hybrid) – 1:00 p.m.  -  https://us02web.zoom.us/j/85821230348
  • Sept 20, 22 and 24 – Training for new members at the Animales Building
  • Oct 6 - Zoom Council Meeting – 10:00 a.m.
  • Oct 9 – "Boquete Shows its Love" Blood Drive - 7 a.m.to 12:00 p.m.
  • Oct 13 - General Meeting – 1:00 p.m. - https://us02web.zoom.us/j/85821230348
  • Oct 27 – Being Prepared Workshop 11 – 12:30 at the Animales Building
  • Nov 3 - Zoom Council Meeting – 10:00 a.m.
  • Nov 10 - General Meeting – 1:00 p.m. - https://us02web.zoom.us/j/85821230348
  • Dec 1 – Volunteer Appreciation Brunch
  • Dec 28 – FINAL DAY FOR NOMINATIONS
  • Jan 5 – Planning Meeting
  • Jan 12 – ANNUAL MEETING AND ELECTIONS

Starting with the September General Meeting, we will continue with the hybrid format (in-person for those who wish to attend, and via Zoom for those who prefer not to attend)..
 

"Behind the Scenes Volunteers” Thank you!

Those who volunteer with BHH are truly amazing.  If you remember last December’s newsletter, the list went on and on. Or look at the roots and trunk of ourTree of Life.
Beverly Stearns

14 years ago, a group of far-sighted individuals got together with the vision of helping the residents of Boquete deal with end-of-life issues.  They worked for over a year to forge the Boquete Hospice and Health Foundation, and after all the groundwork was laid, they held their first training class – in effect they had to train themselves.  Beverly Stearns was one of these individuals.

Since that time, Beverly has been the driving force behind our recruitment and training activities.  When a person indicated interest in joining the organization, Beverly would meet with them, learn about their passions, likes and how they saw themselves fitting into BHH.  Beverly would also explain the philosophy of BHH, the absolute necessity of confidentiality and all the various ways a person could contribute.

Once a year she would take on the huge task of training these prospective new members.  Beverly would meet with various people to revise the training manual, organize the dates, location and times for the training, keep in contact with the new members, organize the agenda, and hold the training, which took place over three days.

Boquete Health and Hospice has grown into the diverse and caring organization because of all these years of hard work that Beverly has given.

In addition to recruiting, vetting and training new members, Beverly has managed the Meals Team (most recently with the able assistance of Evie Jones).  When alerted by the Patient Care Coordinator that a person was unable to cook for themselves, Beverly would send out emails to her team asking for them to provide a meal and to deliver it.  When Covid became a problem, her team figured a way to deliver meals without entering a person’s home or coming in contact with them, thereby protecting everyone from possibly contracting the illness.  While this was less than optimal, the program kept working.

Beverly has recently left the organization and her absence is missed.  BHH is very grateful for all the hard work Beverly has done and all she contributed.  Thank you Beverly.
 
Arnold's Thoughts on COVID 19

Panama is reporting a downward trend in Covid 19 cases.  In the last 2 weeks Covid 19 cases have declined 33.6 %.  According to Minsa 3,187,124 people have been vaccinated or 58% of the population.  While this is quite promising, there are still over 10,000 active cases with over 500 people  hospitalized.  With the arrival of the Delta variant, there is increased urgency to accelerate vaccine doses.

I would like to share an excellent article by Arnold Schwarzenegger.

Author -  Arnold Schwarzenegger 
I said this to someone in the comments, but I think a lot of you need to hear this.  I always say you should know your strengths and listen to the experts.  If you want to learn about building biceps, listen to me, because I've spent my life studying how to get the perfect peak and I have been called the greatest bodybuilder of all time.  We all have different specialties.  Dr. Fauci and all of the virologists and epidemiologists and doctors have studied diseases and vaccines for their entire lives, so I listen to them and I urge you to do the same.  None of us are going to learn more than them by watching a few hours of videos.  It's simple: if your house in on fire, you don't go on YouTube, you call the damn fire department.  If you have a heart attack, you don't check your Facebook group, you call an ambulance.  If 9 doctors tell you have cancer and need to treat it or you will die, and 1 doctor says the cancer will disappear, you should always side with the 9. In this case, virtually all of the real experts around the world are telling us the vaccine is safe and some people on Facebook are saying it isn't.  In general, I think if the circle of people you trust gets smaller and smaller and you find yourself more and more isolated, it should be a warning sign that you're going down a rabbit hole of misinformation. 
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Some people say it is weak to listen to experts.  That's bogus.  It takes strength to admit you don't know everything.  Weakness is thinking you don't need expert advice and only listening to sources that confirm what you want to believe.
 
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There is no better way to show you care than with food.  Sometimes the simplest food can be what matters the most.  Here at Boquete Health & Hospice we are fortunate to have a wonderful Meal Team that provides meals to patients on a short-term basis.  
Often a patient may have had a fall or is returning from a hospital stay and needs help preparing meals for a few days.  When this happens, our Meal Team jumps into action and is ready to assist.  We work with the patient and caregivers to identify dietary restrictions, food likes or dislikes, and a delivery schedule.
 
The Meal Team Member typically provides a meal that is enough for two meals (leftovers are a great thing!).  The word “provides” means that the meal can be homemade if the Team Member enjoys cooking, it can be take-out or it can be from one of our local companies that provides already prepared meals.  When ready, the Team Member delivers the meal to the patient’s doorstep.

The Meal Team is always looking for more members since a patient may need several meals over a period of a few weeks.  If you would like to occasionally assist in providing a meal, the Meal Team would appreciate having you volunteer.  Remember, you have the freedom to cook, provide take-out or deliver a prepackaged meal…whatever works best for you.  For more details and to volunteer, please contact Leslie at 6482-0073 or brubble51b@gmail.com.
 
Being Prepared Conversation
with Kim Doherty


Recently, Lesley Hughes, President of Boquete Health and Hospice sat down with Kim Doherty to talk about her experiences with the Being Prepared program.  Kim has first-hand experience with using the Guide and is a staunch advocate for its use.

When her husband became ill, she purchased the Guide, decided how it would work best for her, but delayed filling it out for several months.  When her husband became critical, she spent the time to complete it.  When he died, she was able to just hand it to the doctor, because it had all the information that was needed.  The step-by-step instructions about what to do and  when allowed her to get things done in the correct order, which minimized her stress.  In effect, she was able to deal with her emotions without worrying about the bureaucratic requirements.

View the video below
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MINSA guidelines were followed during the taping of this conversation.
 
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Shake Your Booty! Wellness Benefits of Moving to the Music!

Research by neuroscientists at Columbia University indicates that when we move in tune with the rhythm of music, the positive effects of the music are amplified.  By synchronizing our movements with the beat, we are doubling the pleasure and the benefits.  As we grow older we suffer a decline in mental and physical fitness, which can be made worse by conditions like Alzheimer's disease. A new study, published in the journal "Frontiers in Human Neuroscience", shows that older people who routinely partake in physical exercise can reverse the signs of aging in the brain, and dancing has the most profound effect. Dancing uniquely combines stimulation from physical and mental effort as well as social interaction. In addition, of the different types of physical exercise studied, it was only dancing that led to improved balance.

This month, the Magic of Music Team summarizes the research on music and movement.  And we provide information on how you can get involved to reap the wellness benefits, including information on local dancing opportunities that are currently available right here in Boquete.  Even shy couch potatoes can boogie to the music and promote their own health and wellness!  Click the button below to find out more
Full Article
 
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This section will contain an interesting article that we found on the web with a teaser so you can see if you want to click through.  Many places want you to sign up for their mailing list; however, we only choose links that let you bypass the sign up. Later, if you like the site, you can choose to sign up, but not necessary to read the article.

Rosacea

This common skin condition can affect anyone. Learn the signs and treatment options.
For years, flushing of the face has been a persistent issue for many. When, though, does that redness indicate a deeper condition?Rosacea is a skin condition causing redness of the face. In some cases, blood vessels and small, red bumps are also visible. It presents differently for everyone and can develop at any age. "Rosacea is often misdiagnosed, and many don't seek treatment because they don't realize it's rosacea," says Dr. Jeffrey Fromowitz, a dermatologist based in Boca Raton, Florida.
Flare ups may occur randomly, lasting for weeks or months before going away. And while it can affect anyone, it's most commonly seen in:
  • People ages 30-60.
  • Women.
  • Individuals with light skin.
  • Those with a family history of the condition.
"The amount of people affected by rosacea is higher than widely believed," Dr. Danilo C. Del Campo, a dermatologist practicing at Chicago Skin Clinic, concurs. "It is estimated to be about 5% of the population" or nearly 16 million Americans.
Go to full article
 
About the Tree of Life
The tree was created to honor our donors and volunteers.  The roots are volunteers, the trunk is the council, the leaves are people who have donated $100 or more.  The two color leaves are people who have donated for two years.  The flowers are business sponsors who donate $100 or more every year.  The Lilies are new.  They are memorials to people who have passed.  Family or friends have donated $200 or more to honor them. 
Add your leaf or flower or Lily.  Click the button to make our tree grow.
Thank you.
Donate
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Click Here to Enlarge Tree
Many Thanks to Our New and Repeat Donors
Lee & Joann Stringer
Kat McCay 
 
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Over the past year there have been questions about WHY Boquete Health and Hospice was doing things in a certain way.  The policies of the organization have now been posted on our website.  There is a link at the bottom of the home page or you can go to the “More” page to read them or download a PDF version.  The policies will be updated as needed.  
View BHH Policies
 
Our Mission

Our mission is to provide palliative care for the terminally ill in order that they may experience death with dignity and limited pain; to inform and promote community health; and, to support people with health and wellness needs by providing information, equipment and volunteer services.
 
To Make a Donation
 BHHF functions with donations provided by the community. If you are interested in supporting the work we do, please make a donation.

To make a financial contribution by check or cash contact Laurie Collier, our treasurer, at lojocollier@yahoo.com to arrange a time and place to pick up your donation.

You can also click here  to make an online Paypal donation.
Make a Direct Deposit to:  Boquete Hospice and Health Foundation, Global Bank Checking Account #16-101-23071-6 

For more information visit our website: http://www.boquetehealth.org

We also have a Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/boqueteheartshandsandhelp/?ref=bookmarks  Please Like our page and share the contents with your family and friends.
 
Confidentiality
All patient information shared with any Boquete Health and Hospice volunteer is kept in the strictest confidence.

To Contact Us
 
Hospice/Health:  (507) 6781-9250
8am to 5pm Monday to Friday,  9am to 1pm Saturday and Sunday    Please! 


Blood Donor Program: 
WhatApp (507)-6590-2000 or call (507)-6781-9250 8am to 5pm Monday to Friday,  9am to 1pm Saturday and Sunday, Please.

Email:  info@boquetehealth.org
 
Freely send this to anyone, use any part.

Our mailing address is:
info@boquetehealth.org

 
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