Hospice care is provided for patients who have been diagnosed with an illness that is incurable. This type of care is designed for people who have six months or less to live. If a patient lives for longer than six months, he or she will still receive the care as long as a hospice doctor or medical director recertifies the illness.
Making a Choice for a Hospice Provider
A hospice program may offer patients care options at its facility or in a home nursing care setting. When making a choice for a provider, the following questions should be answered:
- Is the hospice provider licensed and certified by the government?
- Does the provider staff caregivers for in-home care?
- Does the hospice provider regularly meet the patient and family to discuss the patient’s care?
- How are after-hours emergencies handled?
- What measures have been implemented to ensure hospice standards?
- What services are offered by volunteers? Do they have training?
When an Illness Goes into Remission
In some instances, a patient’s illness goes into remission, thereby making hospice care or home nursing care unnecessary. When this occurs, you can choose to stop the care and be discharged. You just need to sign a form that indicates when the care will end. Patients often opt for aggressive therapy and go back to their daily lives after they are released from care.
Beginning Care
Research shows that choosing hospice care increases a patient’s quality of life and therefore makes this time of transition easier. Families who begin hospice care within the last weeks of a patient’s life have been shown to have more trouble adjusting during the bereavement period. However, families who begin hospice care months before a patient’s passing find that it is beneficial.
Whether a home nursing care option is chosen or hospice care takes place elsewhere, this type of therapy should be introduced soon after a patient’s diagnosis is confirmed. You can learn more about hospice care and its benefits by visiting the Sacred Journey Hospice website. You can also follow them on Twitter for more updates.
