Tag: end-of-life care

Hospice Care and Your Loved One

The very thought of hiring hospice care for a loved one is scary. Unfortunately, many family members put themselves through much more pain and pressure because they don’t want to admit that a loved one needs hospice. They continue to care for them and deny the fact that the end may be near. While hospice care is not a decision that should be taken lightly, it could offer much help, support and comfort for your family. You may want to consider hospice care if your loved one:

  • Has a chronic disease or sickness that will shorten their life
  • Has a condition that is incurable
  • Wants to spend their last days as comfortable as possible in a setting of their choice
  • Wants close relatives to participate in their end-of-life care
  • Wants to terminate treatment because it is more of a pressure than comfort, or because it is no longer effective
  • Was given 6 months or less to live

It’s important to keep in mind that hospice care is available for individuals who are in the last stages of an illness, not just the final days or hours of their death. They may have several more months to live, but they want to spend this time in their own home with loved ones. A hospice care agency may be contacted by your family members and a physician’s order will be arranged for final approval. Once the care staff receives approval, proper care can begin. Some family members believe that by choosing this kind of care, they are “giving up.” This is not true in any way. The main goal of hospice is to keep the patient comfortable as they go through the final stages of their sickness. Any signs of distress are immediately tended to, but sickness itself is no longer treated. Your loved one’s body will start to shut down over time, but with this kind of care, they will be kept comfortable and in the care of someone at all times.

Hospice Care Evolution

November is National Hospice and Palliative Care Month, a time to draw and raise attention of this special kind of care. Hospice care is a viewpoint of end-of-life care that concentrates on the comforting and care of a critically ill patient’s symptoms. These symptoms can be actual, psychological, spiritual or social in nature.  The idea of hospice as a place to cure the incurably ill has been changing since the 1200’s and first came into the United States in the nineteen seventies in reaction to the work of Cicely Saunders in the United Kingdom. Since its appearance, hospice care has evolved rapidly.

Hospice care is available to sufferers of any age with any terminal diagnosis. Although most hospice sufferers are in treatment for less than 30 days, care may increase beyond six months if an individual’s condition is constantly on the merit for such healthcare. Medical and social services are provided to sufferers and their loved ones by an interdisciplinary group of professional suppliers and volunteers who take a patient-directed strategy to handling sickness. Generally, therapy is not analytic or healing, but is based on what the individual and family members’ goals are. In many situations, hospice services are covered by medical health insurance and other suppliers.

Care may be provided in an individual’s home, experienced nursing service, or assisted living service. The objective of hospice care is to offer comfort to the individual and family members. This can mean independence from actual, psychological, spiritual and/or social pain. Hospices do not seek to speed up loss of life, or extend life. Hospices offer care with an interdisciplinary group. This interdisciplinary group strategy includes all members of the medical care group working together towards the same objective, which in this case is identified by discussions with the individual and family members. Members include the hospice medical director, doctors, pharmacy technician, RNs, certified nurse’s aide, social workers, spiritual consultants and volunteers. The hospice health director is a physician who provides support and guidance to the clinical staff providing care to the patient and family.