Hospice isn’t a place, nor is the care just about those who are dying. Hospice is a comprehensive kind of care that focuses on living — it’s about living as fully as possible, surrounded by family and friends, up until the end of life. Palliative care brings this special philosophy of care to people earlier in…
How Can Palliative Care Help? You may have heard of a new medical term – palliative care (pronounced PAH-LEE-UH-TIVE). For the last thirty years, palliative care has been provided by hospice programs. Now this very same approach to care is being used by other healthcare providers, including teams in hospitals, nursing facilities and home health…
Considered to be the model for quality, compassionate care for people facing a life-limiting illness or injury, hospice and palliative care involve a team-oriented approach to expert medical care, pain management, and emotional and spiritual support expressly tailored to the person’s needs and wishes. Support is provided to the person’s loved ones as well. The…
Free Resource Helps Patients & Families Choose a Quality Hospice NHPCO Offers Guidance to Help People Make a Choice about a Hospice Provider (Alexandria, Va) — When a loved one is diagnosed with a serious or life-limiting illness, the questions facing an individual or a family can be overwhelming. The National Hospice and Palliative Care…
You may not think of yourself as a caregiver, but anyone who helps someone else because that person is no longer able to manage some or all of the activities of daily life is considered a caregiver.
MAKING DECISIONS It is important to plan for the future and empower ourselves with options that meet our needs and desires. When faced with a life-limiting or terminal illness, many decisions must be made. These decisions can involve financial matters, advance directives, funeral arrangements, how the last days of life will be spent, and other…
MEDICATIONS Hospice provides medications that address symptoms related to the terminal diagnosis. All medications are prescribed by the attending physician and delivered by a courier service to the patient’s home. Medications are available to the patient 24 hours a day. The hospice nurse is responsible for ordering medications and will arrange for delivery at a…
‘Hospice’ is a term that describes a specific type of symptom management care for people who will eventually die as a result of a progressive disease. In order to make informed decisions and take advantage of the personalized level of care and services that hospice offers, we can correct our misconceptions. MYTHS ABOUT HOSPICE CARE…