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Hospice
Hospice is a
special way of caring for people who
are terminally ill, and for their family. It is a special kind of
care designed to provide sensitivity and support for people in the
final phase of a terminal illness. Hospice care seeks to enable
patients to carry on an alert, pain-free life and to manage other
symptoms so that their last days may be spent with dignity and
quality at home or in a home-like setting.
Hospice
Services
- Registered
nurse, on call 24-hours a day, 7 days a week
- Instructions,
care and assistance in home care
- Social work
services
- Spiritual
counseling
- Emotional
support
- Bereavement
services to provide counseling and support for one year
following the patient’s death
How Hospice
Works
Hospice
services are available to persons who can no longer benefit from
curative treatment. The goal of Hospice is the care for the patient
and the family, not to cure the illness. The doctor and the Hospice
nurse will work with the patient and family to set up a plan of care
that meets the individual needs. The care that hospice gives is
meant to help the patient make the most of the last months of life
by giving comfort and relief from pain. The focus is on care and
support, not cure.
As a hospice
patient, there is a team of people that will help with the care.
They are……
- Your family
- A doctor
- A nurse
- Clergy and
other counselors
- A social
worker
- Trained
volunteers
A family
member or other designated person who cares for you will be with you
every day and members of the hospice team will make regular visits.
The nurse and doctor are on-call 24 hours a day, 7 days a week to
give you and your family the support and care when needed.
Even though a
doctor is a part of the hospice team, you may choose to use your own
doctor to get care. Hospice will work closely with your doctor to
give you the care that you need.
How Hospice
Differs From Other Types of Healthcare
- Hospice
offers palliative, rather than curative treatment. They use
sophisticated methods of pain and symptom control that enable
the patient to live as fully and comfortably as possible.
- Hospice
treats the person, not the disease. The hospice team addresses
the medical, emotional, psychological, and the spiritual needs
of the patient and the loved ones. Hospice emphasizes quality,
rather than length of life. Hospice neither hastens nor
postpones death: it affirms life and regards dying as a normal
process. It stresses human values that go beyond the physical
needs of the patient.
- Hospice
considers the entire family, not just the patient, the
"unit of care." Patients and their loved ones are
included in the decision-making and bereavement counseling is
provided to the family after the death of their loved one.
- Hospice
offers help and support to the patient and family on a
24-hour-a-day, seven-days-a-week basis. Help is just a phone
call away.
Who Pays For
Hospice Care?
Hospice
care is a covered benefit under most private insurance plans. In
addition, hospice is a covered Medicare benefit, and in some states
is a covered Medicaid benefit.
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