Cardinal Hospice Care
patient resource guide
visionary
The Client
Cardinal Hospice Care is a North Carolina-based hospice organization with a 25-year legacy of serving patients and families across five counties. Their care model centers on dignity, compassion, and clinical excellence at every stage of the end-of-life journey. When they came to Ethos By Design, their patient-facing materials didn't yet reflect the depth of care they delivered in the room.
HOSPICE CARE & PATIENT SERVICES
The Problem
Cardinal Hospice Care had a problem most healthcare organizations quietly share: their patient-facing documents were built for administrators, not for families. A C-suite team member had assembled a working version of the resource guide in-house. The information was accurate, but the presentation offered no acknowledgment of who would actually be reading it: someone caring for a dying loved one, often overwhelmed, often in crisis, often reading through grief.
The document needed to carry federal compliance language, HIPAA notices, DNR policy, Medicare coverage details, vaccination protocols, and end-of-life guidance: all in a format that felt warm, navigable, and human. And it needed to serve two language communities: an English version and a fully translated Spanish edition.
Compliance content with a human audience
The Approach
The brief was simple and not simple at all: make compliance feel like care. Every design decision was framed around one question: what does this reader need right now?
The guide covers HIPAA notices, DNR policy, Medicare structure, vaccination protocols, and end-of-life physical changes, each requiring a different visual treatment while holding a single emotional register. A complete Spanish-language edition was produced alongside the English version, managing text expansion and typographic nuance so the design held across both. Cardinal's existing brand, navy, red, the cardinal logo, was retained and elevated. Not a rebrand. An upgrade.
The Result
before
after
Word-document aesthetic, red headers on white
Wall-to-wall text, no visual hierarchy
No photography or imagery
Numbered pages misaligned, TOC not updated
Missing contact info placeholders left in copy
Structured for accuracy, not yet desgined with the patient in mind
Before - Internal Draft
Full editorial layout with cohesive system
Curated photography, purposeful white space
Iconography for scanability across all sections
Clinical content structured for ease of use
Phone number, branding consistent throughout
Tone calibrated for compassion and clarity
After - Final Design
The completed guide is distributed in print and digitally across five North Carolina county locations, serving patients and caregivers from the moment of admission. It became the organization's most-referenced patient resource, something families reach for repeatedly throughout the care journey, not just once at intake.
The most Used Tool in the room
the outcome
51
Pages, fully art directed
2
Language versions produced, English and Spanish
5
North Carolina county locations served
Creative direction
Bilingual layout
Translation oversight
Print production
Brand application
Healthcare content design
The Scope
