Hospice care is care for people who are no longer seeking a cure or treatment for their disease. The goal of hospice care is to provide the highest quality of life for a person for whatever time remains in their life. Generally a person who receives hospice care has been diagnosed with six months or less to live. Most of the people receiving hospice care have cancer, but patients with heart disease, AIDS, or other conditions may seek this care as well. This article will provide you with a guide to the benefits of hospice care; it does not constitute or replace medical advice.
The benefits of hospice care include the following:
Hospice care allows you or your loved one to die at home, rather than in a hospital.
One of the main benefits of hospice care is that it is usually provided in the home, so that a patient does not spend their last few weeks or months in a hospital. To be at home, rather than in a strange room, can help a dying patient to feel more comfortable and less isolated. Nursing homes and assisted living residences may also offer hospice as well. There are also facilities that are dedicated solely to hospice services.
If hospice care is being given in a nursing home or assisted living facility, hospice care allows the staff, patient and family to establish a relationship, making the care feel personalized.
Hospice care given in a nursing home or assisted living facility allows the staff to come to know the patient and his or her family, so that the care received comes from someone the patient will have a relationship with, instead of a relative stranger. This benefit can be comforting to the patient and his or her family.
The patient will receive emotional and physical counseling and relief.
The services that will be offered to a patient will vary depending on the hospice program itself and the illness the patient is diagnosed with. Usually hospice care includes care from a team which is directed by a doctor who has training in end-of-life care, home visits from a nurse, medical equipment and medications for symptoms. This benefit will ensure the patient has the best care for physical ailments, including pain relief and other symptoms. Counseling services, including spiritual, are offered, as well as bereavement care for the family, which gives the patient and his or her family emotional relief.
There is always someone on call to answer questions or see to the care of a patient
Hospice care includes 24-hour nursing support as well as daily visits from a nurse. Medications can be administered by a professionally trained staff member, and any questions that arise can be answered. This benefit can ease the strain on the caregiver as well as the patient.
There is much more privacy for the patient.
This is especially true if the patient chooses to receive hospice care at home, but even a nursing home or assisted living facility will offer more privacy than a hospital. The patient can be in his or her own bedroom, rather than a strange room, and won’t have to share their room with another patient during his or her final hours.
Family and friends can visit and be with the patient at all times – there are no “visiting hours”
Unlike a hospital, family and friends can be with the patient any time they choose. The patient’s spouse, children, and other family and friends can comfort and be with the patient at all hours. This can be a great benefit to both the patient and his or her family.
Hospice care can be a relief to the patient who doesn’t want to “burden” their family
The many services hospice offers (see above) can relieve the family of the patient, which in turn relieves the patient who doesn’t want to burden his or her family. Caring for a loved one can be physically and emotionally stressful, and hospice care can help with that. Hospice even offers respite care, which is when the patient is admitted to the hospital for a while, typically up to five days, to give the family a rest.
Hospice care can reduce the stress for caregiving.
As just mentioned, hospice care can help the physical and emotional stress of the caregiver as well as the patient. Counseling, as well as every day assistance with things such as bathing, cooking, cleaning, etc., will provide much needed help to the caregiver. Respite care, another benefit mentioned above, is available as well.
For more information, go to http://www.nhpco.org/, the home page for the National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization. This website offers a comprehensive guide to hospice care, and also has a provider directory you can access. I hope you found this information helpful.
Source List:
http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/hospice-care/HQ00860
http://www.nia.nih.gov/HealthInformation/Publications/endoflife/02_finding.htm
http://www.cancer.gov/cancertopics/factsheet/support/hospice
http://www.care.com/senior-care-the-pros-and-cons-of-hospice-care-p1017-q14839.html
http://www.hospice-info.net/hospice-care-pros-and-cons.php
