Understanding Hospice

Hospice is not a “location” but a way to offer compassionate care to people who are nearing the end of their life’s journey.  The main goal of hospice is to help clients live meaningful lives—with comfort and dignity—for the time that’s left them.  

PEOPLE WHO RECEIVE HOSPICE CARE:

• Are usually in the last six months of their lives.
• Can be any age, from a child to a senior citizen.
• Can be of any religion...or of no religion.
• Have terminal illnesses such as cancer, AIDS, lung diseases, heart disease, nerve disorders or Alzheimer’s disease.
• Often have a friend or family member who helps care for them.
• Can be wealthy, poor or in between!
• People have the right to change their minds.  If they begin hospice care and don’t like it or want to try some new “cure” for their disease, they can be discharged from hospice.   Most insurance plans allow people to start hospice again at a later time.

PALLIATIVE CARE:

• Palliative care is also known as “comfort care.”  Palliative care focuses on making a person comfortable by reducing or taking away the symptoms of an illness. 
• People who choose hospice have made the decision to focus their medical care on comfort rather than cure. 
• Together, the hospice team develops a plan of care for each hospice client.  It includes doctor’s orders and a plan for what each team member needs to do to help the client and family.  A hospice plan of care is very flexible.  Depending on a client’s symptoms, it may  change from day to day.
• An important part of palliative care is pain control.  Every member of the hospice team is involved in managing a client’s pain.

THE HOSPICE TEAM:

Along with the client and the client's family, the hospice team includes:

• Physicians may include a hospice physician and a client’s family doctor.
• Nurses are often “on call” 24 hours a day.
• Caregivers help the client with bathing, dressing, basic bedside care and activities of daily living.  They assist hospice clients to remain as independent as possible for as long as possible. 
• Social Workers assess a hospice family’s basic needs and help them get whatever resources they need. 
• Therapists help keep hospice clients moving and functioning safely through their home or facility. 
• Chaplains offer spiritual comfort to the client and family.
• Volunteers are trained individuals who provide assistance to the hospice family.
• Bereavement Counselors teach grieving families how to heal from the loss of their loved one.