LifeCare Expands Services for Serious and Dementia-Related-Illness

Lower Cape Fear LifeCare (LCFL) has been the area’s leader in hospice care since 1980. The nonprofit continually evaluates how to better meet the growing and changing healthcare needs of families in our community. Recently, it expanded two of its services to improve the quality of life for people and families living with dementia-related and serious illnesses.

It’s no secret that women bear the largest burden of dementia-related illnesses. Not only are they more likely to develop these illnesses, but studies show women make up 60 to 70 percent of all unpaid Alzheimer’s and dementia caregivers.

Lower Cape Fear LifeCare recognized the challenges faced by families caring for a loved one with a dementia-related illness and established a pilot program, Memory Partners, in 2019. The goal was to connect families with available resources; provide educational programs to help patients and caregivers better understand the progression of dementia-related illnesses; offer support groups; and make respite care available to give caregivers some much-needed downtime.

In 2020, the pilot program expanded its services thanks to a one-million-dollar grant, distributed over three years, from the Department of Health and Human Services Administration for Community Living. In 2023, LifeCare Memory Partners became a 501(c)(3) nonprofit to continue the work needed to support area families. Later that year, LifeCare Memory Partners collaborated with the Alzheimer’s Association of Eastern NC and Cape Fear Area Agency on Aging to create the CareGiver Academy, expanding educational offerings for people with dementia-related illnesses and their care partners.

In July 2024, Medicare’s Guiding an Improved Dementia Experience (GUIDE) selected LifeCare Memory Partners to participate in its pilot program. It was one of fewer than 20 providers in North Carolina chosen through an extensive selection process.

Another expansion involves LCFL’s palliative medicine services. The nonprofit has provided palliative medicine for decades in private homes, assisted living, and skilled nursing facilities. Recently, it opened the first free-standing palliative medicine clinic in southeastern North Carolina, LifeCare Center for Palliative Medicine. Located in the Barclay Commons complex at 2250 Shipyard Blvd. in Wilmington, the clinic allows LCFL to expand its palliative medicine services to care for more people and families in our community.

Palliative medicine is specialized medical care for people living with serious illnesses. The goal is to provide patients with relief from the symptoms and stress of illnesses such as heart disease, COPD, cancer, renal and liver disease, dementia, Parkinson’s, and ALS. Care can be provided alongside curative treatment. A palliative medicine team works with patients, in coordination with their current doctor, to help with physical and psychosocial needs.

To learn more about Lower Cape Fear LifeCare’s services, visit LifeCare.org. To learn more about LifeCare Memory Partners or CareGiver Academy, visit LifeCareMemoryPartners.org.