5. The center today
The hospital context has changed radically
over the past decade. The Family Support Center
originally supported only neurological patients
and families and much of the care-giver activity
focussed around dementia issues. Then the program
broadened its scope to support all the
chronic illness specialties of the hospital. In 1990,
the hospital merged with another health system,
and the Family Support Center became a systemwide
program with resource centers developed at
all four of its member hospitals, care-giver training
at many locations both within and outside of
the Legacy Health System, and support groups
meeting in all parts of the city. The original
center is still the hub of activity but much of the
programming now is outside its walls.
The center offers an easily accessible, pleasant
and comfortable place for individuals to come
when they have questions about an illness or
about caregiving for a close friend or family
member who is ill. Because it is located within
the hospital complex, people come to the center
following a visit with a physician or other health
provider or while a family member is an inpatient
in the hospital. It provides a kind of safe
haven in the hospital setting where their needs,
rather than the disease or condition, are the
focus of attention.