Hospice focuses on caring, not curing, and in most cases care is provided in the patient’s home. Hospice care is also provided in freestanding hospice centers, hospitals, nursing homes, and other long-term care facilities. Hospice services are available to patients of any age, religion, race, or illness. Hospice care is covered under Medicare, Medicaid, most private insurance plans, HMOs, and other managed care organizations.
Hospice is for people with end-of-life conditions. Hospice is designed to bring comfort (palliative care), not curing an illness. A specially trained team of professionals and caregivers provides care for the “whole person,” including physical, emotional, social, and spiritual needs. Services typically include physical care, counseling, medications, equipment, supplies for the terminal illness, and related conditions. Care is generally given in the home, with support available to family caregivers.
Many think hospice is only about end-of-life care, but it's so much more than that. We help people with a life-limiting illness and their loved ones make the most of the time they have together. We provide a unique plan of care that addresses the emotional, spiritual, and physical needs of patients and their families during this challenging time.
Being a primary caregiver when you have a loved one in hospice can be a challenge. Trying to navigate your final days while caring for them can take a toll on you that you wouldn’t expect. That’s why having the right hospice care team is invaluable. Managing symptoms, providing practical help, and offering emotional support are the foundations of hospice care.
PAIN AND SYMPTOM MANAGEMENT: Our goal is to help you experience the best possible quality of life. We’ll work with you and your family to build a care plan specifically for your needs. We also provide the necessary medications, equipment and supplies to support your hospice diagnosis.
EMOTIONAL SUPPORT: The emotions you feel during this time can be overwhelming. But you don’t have to do this alone. We are here to help you make sense of your feelings and offer professional grief counseling for you and your loved ones. We will be there for you, every step of the way.
SPIRITUAL COUNSELING: Grief can sometimes make us question our beliefs, but it can also be a time of reflection. Our highly experienced staff can provide care for the spiritual needs brought on by a life-limiting illness. We can also help you to find solace in your faith, whatever your beliefs.
RESPITE CARE: When family members and loved ones are caring for someone with a life-limiting illness, they can sometimes feel they have no time for themselves. If your family caregiver needs a rest or some time away to simply recharge, our team can provide short-term relief.
BEREAVEMENT CARE: People respond to the death of a loved one in a variety of ways. Our professional team of counselors and social workers is here to support you through your loss for up to 13 months beyond your loved one’s passing.
Hospice uses teamwork and careful listening to the patients and family members in order to help the patient live out their final days as peaceful and comfortable as possible. Developed into its present form by Dr. Cicely Saunders at St. Christopher’s Hospice in London, it is a service and philosophy of care for terminally ill patients.
Most people receiving hospice care are covered by the Medicare hospice benefit. This benefit covers virtually all aspects of hospice care with little out-of-pocket expense to the patient or family. As a result, the financial burdens usually associated with caring for a terminally ill patient are virtually nonexistent.
The majority of hospice patients are cared for in their own homes or the homes of a loved one. “Home” may also be broadly construed to include services provided in nursing homes, assisted living centers, hospitals…wherever the patient considers to be home.
When the patient’s hospice team decides it is no longer safe for the patient to be alone, then a full-time caregiver is necessary. Family, friends, and/or sitters are relied on as caregivers. When available, we do provide volunteers to assist with errands and to provide time away for the major caregivers.
Hospice exists to support and care for persons in their last stages of incurable illness, helping them live as fully and comfortably as possible and enabling them to have a peaceful death within the home environment. Offering appropriate care and support to fulfill individual and family needs, hospice will neither hasten nor postpone death but will help the patient and family reach a degree of preparation for death that is acceptable to them.
This is a common question: Yes. Receiving hospice care is always a choice. A patient may leave hospice and return to curative treatment if that is their choice. If the patient later chooses to return to hospice care, Medicare, Medicaid, and most insurance companies permit re-activation of the hospice benefit.
We are ready to help you and your loved one with loving healthcare. Simply fill out this form below and a Community Healthcare Professional will get in touch with you shortly.
Our goal is to deliver the best care for our patients – whether they need home health, private duty, palliative, hospice, or personal care services.
