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

LCFL has been providing palliative medicine for decades, in private homes, assisted living and skilled nursing facilities. It also provides inpatient care at area hospitals in partnership with healthcare systems such as Novant Health. 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 and 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 the stress of illnesses such as heart disease, COPD, cancer, renal and liver disease, dementia, Parkinson’s, and ALS. Care can be provided together with curative treatment. A palliative medicine team works with patients, in coordination with their current doctor, to help with physical and psychosocial needs including pain, nausea, vomiting, breathing difficulties, fatigue, confusion, and depression.

Another expansion is the agency’s LifeCare Memory Partners program, which began as a pilot program in 2019. Its focus is on connecting families with available resources; providing educational programs to help patients and their caregivers better understand the progression of dementia-related illnesses; offering support groups; and making respite care available to give caregivers some much-needed down time. The goal is to help families keep their loved ones at home for as long as possible While improving quality of life for all.

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, they established LifeCare Memory Partners as a 501 (c)(3) nonprofit, to continue the work needed to support area families. Later that same year, it created CareGiver Academy in partnership with Alzheimer’s Association of Eastern NC and Cape Fear Area Agency on Aging expanding educational offerings for people living with dementia-related illnesses and their caregivers. 

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

LifeCare Memory Partners primarily serves families in New Hanover and Brunswick counties. However, the long-term goal is to increase the program’s availability to all counties LCFL serves.  In-person and virtual workshops make CareGiver Academy offerings available to people throughout southeastern North Carolina. There is no cost to participate in LifeCare Memory Partners or CareGiver Academy.

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