“Time can bring you down, time can bend your knees.  Time can break your heart, have you begging please, begging please.  Beyond the door there’s peace I’m sure.  And I know there’ll be no more tears in heaven.”  ~Eric Clapton and Will Jennings

I had a wonderfully enlightening, and at the same time beautifully peaceful, experience the other day.  I was personally introduced, for the very first time, to Hospice of Santa Barbara.  Yes, I have been practicing psychiatry in Santa Barbara for over twenty-five years, have spent countless hours providing bereavement counseling to individuals and families, had often heard of Hospice of Santa Barbara, but had never actually gone to ‘experience’ just what it was these exceptional people do day-in and day-out providing warmth, comfort, support, direction and other services to those grieving in and around our community.

I was greeted with open arms (everyone there seems to open their arms to everyone walking through the door) by the Executive Director of Hospice of Santa Barbara, Dr. Steven Jacobsen.  Dr. Jacobsen has been the Executive Director since 2008.  Just prior to that he was the Senior Pastor at Goleta Presbyterian Church for sixteen years.  Dr. Jacobsen graduated from UCSB and then received his Master of Divinity degree from the esteemed Princeton Theological Seminary.  He then received his Doctorate in Educational Leadership from Seattle University.

Hospice of Santa Barbara is located within the Riviera Business Park, just behind the Riviera Theater.  After a tour of their exceptionally designed (the design work building itself were donated as expressions of gratitude by former clients) and warmly decorated facility, in which I met many of the staff all with smiles and a quiet peace about them, I sat down with Dr. Jacobsen and talked about just exactly what Hospice of Santa Barbara is.

Dr. Miller:  Dr. Jacobsen, just what exactly does ‘hospice” mean?

Dr. Jacobsen:  Hospice comes from the Latin root for “hospitality” and “hospitable”. The words “hospital,” “hotel,” and ‘”hostel” all derive from the same Latin root, and suggest places of comfort, support, and care.  Since the 1970s, the term has been adopted to describe emotional, social, physical and spiritual care for the terminally ill and for those who care about them. 

Dr. Miller:  What is Hospice of Santa Barbara?

Dr. Jacobsen:  Hospice of Santa Barbara, Inc. is the second oldest hospice in America. We are a local non-profit human services agency which provides free counseling, care management, support groups, spiritual care, respite care, complementary therapies (such as massage, Reiki, and healing touch), and volunteer services to people impacted by life-threatening illness or grieving the death of a loved one.  We began as a small group of visionary volunteers, and we now have a professional staff of 30 and over 100 volunteers. 

Dr. Miller:  During my tour of your beautiful facility you described Hospice of Santa Barbara on a few occasions as a ‘Volunteer Hospice’.  What do you mean by that?

Dr. Jacobsen:  There are two basic types of Hospice organizations in the U.S. The vast majority – more than 99% — are “medical model” hospices, which offer nursing care and supportive services. To qualify for these services, a person needs to have a medical diagnosis of less than six months to live and agree to forgo treatments, such as chemotherapy, that are intended to cure their condition or prolong their life.  These hospices draw income from Medicare, Medical and insurance policies.              Hospice of Santa Barbara is one of the few “volunteer hospices” in the country.  We do not provide nursing services, but instead focus on the emotional, personal and spiritual aspects of dying and grieving, and we volunteer these services to the community free of charge.  Since we are free from government or insurance funding, we have much more freedom and discretion in serving people facing death or grieving.  For example, we can serve people who may have a diagnosis of more than 6 months to live or who are ‘actively’ being treated for a life-threatening illness. Our counselors and social workers, while highly skilled and professionally licensed, can spend much more time with individuals.

Dr. Miller:  What are some of the specific services your organization provides?

Dr. Jacobsen: 

• We help individuals and families cope with grief related to the loss of a loved one.
• We care for anyone facing a life-threatening illness.
• We offer up to 15 different kinds of support groups including: “Widows and Widowers,” (we actually have separate groups for both younger and older adults), “Survivors of Suicide,” “Parenting After Loss,” people who have lost young children, people who have lost adult children, and others.
• Care management in which we have a professional social worker coordinate services.
• Spiritual care in which our counselors, ordained ministers who are trained as chaplains, support individuals and families to find hope, meaning, and spiritual comfort during very difficult phases of their lives.
• Respite care by trained volunteers.
• Volunteer services of many kinds including: cooking, driving, gardening, and many more.
• Complementary therapies that use various forms of massage and energy work to help alleviate stress, fatigue, and pain.

• Community education in that we often are called into schools or businesses where a death has occurred to help people cope and heal.  We also provide speakers to local community groups on related topics.
• Advance care planning where our experienced medical social workers meet with individuals, families and groups to help complete forms that make sure that each person’s wishes are known at the end of life. This includes not only authority for medical decisions, but also information about how you want to be cared for, how you want to be remembered, and what you want people to know about what your life has meant to you.

 Dr. Miller:  Please tell me about some of the services you provide to children and teenagers.

Dr. Jacobsen:  This is actually one of our specialties, and some of the services I am particularly proud of.  We are currently serving 140 children every month.  We offer services to children and teens in several ways:

• Individual and group counseling with counselors who specialize in helping children.
• A mentor program for children and teens call ‘I Have a Friend’.  I Have A Friend matches children who have recently lost a parent or sibling with an adult who experienced a similar loss in their childhood.
• We lead weekly bereavement groups in all the local high schools.  High school counselors make a referral for a student who then participates in our groups in order to deal with the death of friends or family members.
• And, we even help the very young.  Children as early as 2 years old can benefit from Hospice of Santa Barbara’s support services.

In Part Two of this two part series to run next Saturday I will continue my informative and enlightening conversation with Dr. Jacobsen and learn more about the wondrous and peaceful place known as Hospice of Santa Barbara.   Hospice of Santa Barbara can be contacted by calling 805-563-8820 or e-mailing them at info@hospiceofsb.org.