Hospice Care Benefits

Hospices Cares

You could say that a hospice is a special place for the sick. This is the place where they receive proper medical attention. They get their much-needed emotional and spiritual care while they are in a hospice.

A hospice care aims to take care of the ill at the twilight of their lives. It is a place where old patients receive a more humane treatment of their illnesses. Sick people who are under hospice care are either in a nursing home or in a sanatorium.

Hospices started their roots in Europe and since then, it has evolved into a distinct shelter for the sick. The concept of providing hospices somehow developed into a kind of institution. Other patients prefer hospices than hospitals. They choose to spend the rest of their lives inside a nursing home.

Most patients inside a hospice have less than six months to live. They go to hospices so they could somehow extend their time in there. Old patients suffering from cancer, tuberculosis, and other debilitating diseases are its regular inhabitants. There they receive constant care, rest, recreation and even free time to do things at their own pace. Hospice care enables sick patients to maximize their remaining days before they die.

It focuses on caring any more than it aims to cure other diseases. It has its attention of giving these patients something worthwhile while they are recuperating. Hospices make their lives even better during their last days. These places treat patients regardless of race, religion or even diseases. Hospices are under Medicare, Medicaid, and has its own private insurance plans from other medical organizations.

They also have a variety of staffers under their care. Physicians, nurses, social workers, volunteers and even clergymen work for a certain nursing home. They take extra care on their patients, assisting them of their needs. They provide food, medicine, and even a coach on how to take care of the sick.

Care for Care (Hospice Care)

People who become sick come to the hospital and get a doctor’s appointment. When something wrong is actually confirmed, they can either choose to stay at the hospital or at home, depending on what agreement the parties involved may have. And when something worse happens, these patients are given care and attention more than regular patients. And finally, when the unthinkable comes, the time when even doctors cannot help but say to pray, who will these people have to turn to?

Hospice care is a palliative care that provides its services to those people who are nearing death. These are usually the ones who are chronically ill and do not have much longer to live. Reputable hospice care providers not only help physically, but also mentally, emotionally, and spiritually. They help both the patient and the family in facing what is happening now, and what is to come. This is what sets them apart from other care services and are widely known for it. Despite that however, hospice care is only optional.

Hospice care is not without its gossiping rumors. People tend to believe that receiving such care might welcome death sooner or it might mean giving up on life. Hospice care is definitely none of those things.

For one, hospice care tries to supervise the patient into embracing the life he or she has as of the moment. The patients in turn becomes aware of a lot of things which include the support and love coming from their family, friends and even care providers. Hospice care is also about respecting the patient’s wishes. They serve as their counterparts’ tubes and medical equipment in the hospitals. And much more, they are provided with an honest service. Hospice care providers are usually on the clock almost every hour of the day to heed the patient’s needs—like counseling and prayer.

Considering Hospice Care

We cannot escape the natural process of our body. We know that soon, we will become weak and fragile. Aging is the natural effect of the passage of time on human body. Many of us want to fight our age. Most of us want to spend more time with loved ones, some of us may want to look young, some want to continue to be active and animated, others want to work more. But if our body wants to rest we cannot decline or refuse.

Aside from natural aging, Sickness also is one of the factors why our body is deteriorating. Sickness is may be avoided, but it is also inevitable. We cannot predict when it will strike us, and the worst type of sicknesses are those that take longer to cure, or stays with us forever. These ailments are made easier knowing that we can get hospice care.

Hospice care is a program that we can consider if we need help to lighten up our burden in terms of health problems. This program focuses on the quality rather than length of life. It offers humane and compassionate care for people who are in the last stages of their lives. They treat the person rather than the disease so that the person’s last day may be spent with dignity, comfortably and quality. We think about hospice care if the person is no longer capable of being helped by a medicinal treatment. It aims to improve the quality of our life. It also provides support for the patient’s emotional and spiritual needs.

Therefore, we should sometimes consider hospice care. We should not think that being in the hospice program is a sign of giving up of one’s self. Let us also think the benefits that we can receive from the program. The hope that we can receive from them is the hope of quality life, making the best of each day during the last-stage of our lives. We should be thankful that there are people who offer themselves to help us feel valued and important.

Hospice Care and How It Can Help

We need all the comfort and support we can get if we are going through a life-limiting illness or if a loved one is in the last stages of a serious illness. Everyone deserves the right to die pain-free and with dignity, to live each day as fully as possible. And the family also deserves the necessary support when a member is terminally ill.

In this stage of a person’s life, a specialized care designed to provide support by a team of healthcare professionals who maximize comfort by reducing pain and addressing physical, psychological, social and spiritual needs is on option. This specialized care is called hospice care which focuses on caring and not curing.

In a hospice care, the interdisciplinary team provides the following services: manages the patient’s pain and symptoms, assists the patient with the emotional and psychosocial and spiritual aspects of dying, provides needed drugs, medical supplies, and equipment, coaches the family on how to care for the patient, delivers special services like speech and physical therapy when needed, makes short-term care available when pain or symptoms become too difficult to manage at home, or the caregiver needs respite time, and provides bereavement care and counseling to surviving families and friends.

Most hospice care is provided at home. Typically, a family member serves as the primary caregiver and, when appropriate, helps make decisions for the person who is terminally ill. Aside from the primary caregiver, the hospice care team is composed of the patient’s personal physician, hospice physician, nurses, home health aides, social workers, clergy or other counselors, trained volunteers, and speech, physical, and occupational therapist if needed.

Dying does not need to be painful and emotionally hurtful. The goal of hospice care is to support the highest quality of life possible for whatever time remains. It affirms life and views death as a natural process.

Where do Hospice Care Took Place?

Hospice care typically takes place in the patient’s home or wherever possible. This permits the dying to stay in familiar, secure surroundings and close to people they know. As a hospice nurse, you will basically be making house calls to the homes of very sick people to provide physical, psychological, and spiritual assistance to both the patients as well as their families. And that means you must be at ease driving around throughout the day and going into people’s homes.

But if the patient’s family is struggling to look after the patient, you will find in-patient hospice facilities, usually situated on the top floor of a nursing ward or hospital. An in-patient hospice has beds like a hospital, but that is about where the resemblances end. There aren’t any machines, and there are no prohibitive visiting hours; family and friends are always welcome. The atmosphere is rather quiet and peaceful. Almost all of the rooms are exclusive rooms in contrast to a hospital, and in comparison to a hospital, an in-patient hospice has reasonably few beds.

Hospice care is like a transitional place where the patient and the family are joined together for the remaining days of the patient. Hospice care is almost similar to palliative care. They have the same goals which are to ease symptoms and improve quality of life of the patient as well as to prepare the family members. Hospice care is suitable when there is a life expectancy of less than six months. Whenever a curative treatment is no longer working or effective, or in some cases the patient no longer wants to continue them, hospice becomes the other option.

Hospice Care, How it Works?

When you or your family member is in need of a hospice care, the first thing you need to do is to discuss it with the hospice organization in your state. They will be able to explain to you the process and the necessary requirements needed. Once you are qualified, your doctor will help you create a plan suited to your needs. This includes the services that your Medicare covers. The plan will include the location where you will stay, the type of medication, treatments and other services.

There will be a team who will conduct and manage the plan. They are your doctors, nurses, physical therapists, counselors, social workers, aides, volunteers and of course your family. The team will be ready and available whenever you need their services. The services also include counseling with the family members who are having a hard time dealing with the situation.

Your regular doctor is the attending medical professional who will supervise your care plan. What makes the hospice care plan a good one is that it allows you to stay in the comfort of your home. If ever there is a need for you to stay in a hospital, like the need for equipments and facilities, your team will arrange everything for you.

Hospice care is only proposed for people with 6 months or less to live. It is designed to keep the patient close to their family and his home. The patient can still acquire the services of the hospice care even if his life extends over 6 months. This will of course need the recommendation of the attending physician. However, if your health improves or you completely recover, you no longer need the hospice care.

Choosing a Hospice Provider

hospicecare A hospice care program is offered to someone who is in an advanced or terminal illness. This is a specialized support and care program that aims to lighten the burden being carried by the patient and his family. There are many institutions that offer this kind of services which should be in line with the guidelines set by the Medicare. Though they follow guidelines and have good programs, it still matters to choose the best hospice agency. They are not exactly similar; there are minor differences that may mean big. It is advisable to research from the start to find where those differences lie. You could ask some friends who know such agencies. They may give you some helpful advice where to go or what institution to avoid.

Hospice care service must be compassionate and knowledgeable in every step of the patient’s journey. They must be composed of physicians and nurses as well as other professional caregivers that will offer personalized choices. The institution must also be up-to-date with the pain and symptom management, and could offer the patient peace of mind to easily deal with the illness. Usually, hospice care is suitable for those who have a limited diagnosis of 12 months or less. It is indeed hard for the person to live a normal life when he knows he or she has few months to live, but it is more difficult to deal with it alone or with worried and stressed family members. The service will offer physical comfort and well-being for the patient.

Most institutions require large to minimal amount of payment for their services, but there are few who offer their services for free. They wish to aid the patient and their family spend their extended time together at the comfort of a well equipped facility. In this period of time, you and your family should be able to focus on comfort and quality of life rather than on worries and fear.

Hospice care is a philosophy of care that embraces comfort and self-respect at the end of life. It is a complete form of care, meaning that it addresses the physical, emotional, spiritual and social needs of the affected person and their family. Hospice care is a Medicare benefit that has been shown to reduce healthcare involvement and frequent hospitalizations. It doesn’t prolong death and it doesn’t advance it. Hospice instead improves the total well being for the affected person as they near the end of life, while offering useful support and information for family members. Some family members feel strongly about when it’s the right time to schedule hospice care, while others are more hesitant. Let’s discuss many of the benefits to hospice care so that you can make an informed decision for your beloved.

Comprehensive Care – Hospice includes a group of professionals: physicians, social workers, nurses, home health aides, chaplains and volunteers. This helps the affected person and their family get the personalized care that they need, as well as answers and support. This dynamic group also makes sure that no needs are left uncared for.

Continuous Care – The clock never stops on hospice care. Care is offered 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Families always have access to care for their beloved and patients never have to be left unattended. This means that caregivers can take the breaks they need while knowing that their beloved is cared for.

Reduced Expenses – Medicare, Medicaid and private insurance covers the cost of hospice care. Without it, family members may be responsible for paying for medications, healthcare supplies and healthcare equipment.

Fewer Hospitalizations and Treatments – Hospice care can avoid the need for unnecessary treatments and hospitalizations. When an individual is brought to the hospital, the goal is generally to ‘save’ the affected person. However, when end of life is near and doesn’t need to be prolonged with healthcare involvement, hospice care is very useful and will support the affected person and family’s wishes.