What Does Hospice Care Provide?

Hospice care is holistic, highly specialized care and support when your prognosis is measured in months instead of years, and comfort is your primary goal. Unlike other medical care, the focus of hospice isn’t to cure an underlying disease. The goal is to support the highest quality of life possible for whatever time remains. Hospice enables patients and families to maintain control over their lives, live with comfort and dignity, and feel supported as they prepare for death in their own way. Hospice staff have expertise in managing symptoms and providing emotional and spiritual support so you can feel comfortable and spend your final days in ways that are important to you. You and your family are surrounded with an extra layer of support from hospice doctors, nurses, social workers, chaplains, certified nursing assistants, trained volunteers, and grief counselors.

The Hospice Benefit provides access to an array of support for you and your family that addresses the medical, emotional and spiritual needs that accompany a terminal illness including:

• Development of a personalized plan of care based on ever-changing disease progression, needs, wishes, and lifestyle
• Scheduled and as-needed visits from your hospice care team in your private home, assisted living facility, nursing home, inpatient hospice facility, or  hospital room
• Expert pain and symptom management to achieve optimum comfort overseen by a hospice medical doctor and nurse practitioner
• Collaboration of care with your primary and specialty doctors
• Clinical support and education to manage the physical symptoms of your illness by a registered nurse and licensed practical nurse
• Assistance with daily activities of living including bathing, dressing, mouth care, skin care, grooming, toileting, and incontinence care provided by a certified nursing assistant
• Emotional and social support provided by specialty trained social workers
• Spiritual support and guidance based on your personal beliefs provided by specialty trained chaplains
• RN phone support 24 hours per day
• Prescription and over-the-counter medications for symptom management and pain relief, medical equipment, and supplies related to life-limiting illness such as:
• • Medications for pain, anxiety, depression, shortness of breath and other symptoms
  • Commode
  • Nebulizer
  • Hospital bed
  • Walker
  • Wheelchair
  • Oxygen
  • Bandages
  • Catheter
  • Incontinence and skin care products
  • And more…
• Short-term respite care at an inpatient hospice care facility or skilled nursing home for up to five days at a time to provide temporary caregiver relief to avoid or relieve “caregiver burnout”
• Volunteer support including companionship, vigil sitting during life’s final hours, spiritual enrichment, certified pet visits, and more
• Lab and other diagnostic tests necessary to achieve optimum pain and symptom management
• Grief support before and after death offered by licensed grief counselors, social workers, and trained volunteers

Hospice Eligibility Criteria

Anyone can request a free, no-obligation evaluation for hospice care, by calling a hospice program. You can also request a referral from your doctor. The hospice provider will evaluate you to determine eligibility, which may include a review of your medical history and current condition.

To begin hospice care, you must: 

• Have a terminall illness with a life expectancy of six months or less
• Choose comfort care to improve the quality of life that remains instead of curative treatments (The Hospice Benefit allows pediatric patients under the age of 22 to recieve life prolonging treatments while receiving hospice care)

Keep in mind that a hospice patient can choose to discontinue hospice services at any time should they change their mind and wish to pursue curative treatment. The patient can then re-enroll in hospice when they  choose to recieve comfort care rather than treatments to prolong life. Choosing hospice does not mean discontinuing all medical treatment. Patients can continue to receive care for other conditions, such as high blood pressure medicine.