WELCOME TO
HOSPIZ ELIAS
Where we live, there is home. Where we are, there is belonging. Where we long to be, there is yearning. Where we feel safe and sheltered, there is trust. Where we feel drawn, there is desire. And where we become small, we find humility. But who we are cannot be expressed in a single word. We are travelers, arrivals, and those taking leave. Throughout our lives.
Living empathy
As the team of Hospiz Elias, we accompany people. Both in outpatient and inpatient care. We cannot give life. But we can support patients and their loved ones during a phase of life that can be frightening and painful, but also peaceful, reconciling and, yes, alive.
Contributing to this vitality is both our task and our responsibility. That is why we meet patients in all their diversity and individuality with dignity, respect and acceptance. With us, they can be who they want to be.
“We think queer, not narrow-minded”
Rolf Kieninger
TAKING A STAND
Hospiz Elias is known far beyond the Rhine-Neckar region as a place of support for seriously ill and dying people, their relatives, loved ones and chosen families. At the same time, through our institutions and our education center, we represent lived values and act as a social actor. In our actions and our work, we actively advocate for a hospice philosophy based on greater acceptance, respect and awareness.
Together, we stand for a transcultural, democratic and inclusive society. Not least for this reason, the Intersex Inclusive Pride Flag flies in front of our building as a symbol of openness towards gay, lesbian and bisexual people, People of Color (PoC), Black people, trans*gender people, as well as intersex and non-binary people.
CREATING AWARENESS
“Foreigners”, “migrants”, “people with a migration background”: These are still the most common terms used for people who live in our society but are perceived as non-German. Sometimes it is their appearance, sometimes a name that sounds different. In public perception, it often does not matter how long these people have lived in this country or whether they have actually migrated at all. As a hospice, we are a place for society as it is: diverse and post-migrant; shaped and defined by everyone.
“Post-migrant” does not only refer to questions of migration and inclusion. Rather, the term goes beyond that. It directs attention to the processes that take place after migration has occurred. In a society shaped by immigration, “post-migrant” thinking means focusing our awareness on an equal society in which barriers to participation are removed across society as a whole. This includes central aspects such as uncovering existing mechanisms of exclusion and resentment, every form of discrimination, racism, antisemitism and antigypsyism, as well as structural inequalities of opportunity, unfair distribution of resources or lack of representation.
Hospiz Elias is committed to viewing all lifeworlds within our society with sensitivity and respect. That is why we follow an approach that understands German society as heterogeneous and plural, and that aims for national identity references to change for the benefit of all.
CARING FOR ALL SENSES
Hospiz Elias has been based in the Gartenstadt district of Ludwigshafen since it was founded in 2005. Not far from St. Marienkrankenhaus, the Outpatient Hospice and Palliative Care Advisory Service (AHPB), the inpatient hospice and the administration of the Hospiz Elias education center are all located under one roof. For you, this means care and service from a single source.
The inpatient Hospiz Elias offers space for 8 people with serious, incurable illnesses. Designed at ground level and barrier-free, Hospiz Elias not only meets the latest technical standards, but also combines quality of life with the communal and individual needs of its residents through spacious green areas, gardens and quiet zones.
In spring 2017, a donation-funded extension followed, enabling the Hospiz Elias team to connect its areas of work even more effectively. The move of the Outpatient Hospice Service and its administration into the building is particularly meaningful for people being admitted to the inpatient hospice, as they may see a familiar person from their care at home who can help reduce fear or unfamiliarity.
Since then, our offers and events for relatives, students and interested people, as well as seminars for volunteer helpers, have found their place in the new building through the Hospiz Elias education center. The newly designed seminar room with 60 seats is a place of encounter, awareness-raising and further education.
Virtual tour
OUR GOAL
We want to give people whose incurable illness is very far advanced a place in everyday life. Dying is still taboo in our society, and saying goodbye to life is often associated with loneliness, fear or a lack of self-determination.
The hospice philosophy is different. The focus is no longer on the fight for healing, but on strengthening and accompanying people through a phase of acceptance and letting go.
Our goal: the greatest possible degree of quality of life, dignity and participation for our patients. Because what matters to us in life should also matter in dying.
Our patients and their needs are at the center of everything we do. Patients are treated with dignity and respect, informed comprehensively and clearly, and have the right to make their own decisions. We preserve their dignity and freedom in their final phase of life.
Respecting the diversity and individuality of patients is a matter of course for us. We warmly welcome all people equally, regardless of their cultural or religious background, origin, sexual or gender identity. This applies to patients, their loved ones and chosen families, as well as to staff members and cooperation partners. Everyone has the freedom to be self-determined and to stand by who they are, as they wish.
We place special emphasis on sensitivity and understanding towards people who have experienced discrimination and people with disabilities. Our staff always have an open ear for their needs and concerns.
As a well-known institution in the Rhine-Neckar region, Hospiz Elias publicly and internally stands for acceptance, respect and courage. In this way, we want to make our contribution to an open-minded, diverse and democratic society.
ARE YOU LOOKING FOR HELP?
YOUR FIRST STEPS
Here you will find our request form and our information sheet with the most important information in all available languages. Simply click on the respective link and download the version that is helpful for you. An additional complete overview of all downloads is available in the footer at the very bottom of our website.
EVERY LIFE IS UNIQUE
ROLF KIENINGER
Director of Hospiz Elias
“How do I deal with being confronted with finiteness? Approaching this intimate and individual question guides, motivates and challenges us as a team again and again in our daily work. Human beings live in life, and they also live in dying. We should meet both with dignity and appreciation.”
