The Importance Of Hospice Care

Effective June 1, 2012, Hillsboro County Home Health Agency (HCHHA) will be launching a new division offering Hospice services to Middleboro and surrounding community residents. This hospice center will provide end-of-life care in the form of medical, psychological, social and spiritual support for the terminally ill and their families. Hospice care services are typically structured according to the needs and wishes of each patient and their family. These may change over time and during the different stages of care (the last phases of an illness, the dying process and the

The recommendation I am suggesting would include a singed “Do Not Resuscitate-DNR” agreement from Margie Whitson. Her legal guardian notified of her request and Hospice be contacted. This would be in leu of a possible health issues that would arise in the future. And with this in place, her wishes can be granted. Margie Whitson has lived a long full filled life and all of her family is deceased. She has come to terms with all the setbacks in her life and now wishes to just stop her suffering.

Caring Hospice is a new hospice company in its start-up stages. It will offer compassionate and caring end of life care for terminally ill patients and their families in southeast Missouri. The company name “Caring Hospice” is catchy and easily remembered by consumers. The name indicates that this company will care for dying loved ones.

Hospice exists in the hope and belief that, through proper care and the encouragement of a caring and sensitive team, patients and their families may be free to achieve some level of mental and spiritual preparation for death that is comfortable to them. The goal is to help

Death is inevitable. It is one of the only certainties in life. Regardless, people are often uncomfortable discussing death. Nyatanga (2016) posits that the idea of no longer existing increases anxiety and emotional distress in relation to one’s mortality. Because of the difficulty in level of care for end-of-life patients, the patient and the family often need professional assistance for physical and emotional care. Many family caregivers are not professionally trained in medicine, and this is where hospice comes into play. Hospice aims to meet the holistic needs of both the patient and the patient’s family through treatment plans, education, and advocacy. There is a duality of care to the treatment provided by hospice staff in that they do not attempt to separate the patient’s care from the family’s care. Leming and Dickinson (2011) support that hospice, unlike other clinical fields, focuses on the patient and the family together instead of seeing the patient independent of the family. Many times in hospitals, the medical team focuses solely on the goal of returning the patient back to health in order for them to return to their normal lives. They do not take into account the psychological and spiritual components of the patient’s journey and the journey that the family must take as well. For treatment of the patient, Leming and Dickinson agree that hospice does not attempt to cure patients, and instead concentrates solely

Medicare covers hospice if you have a terminal illness and aren’t expected to live more than six months. However it doesn’t cover grief counseling.

Hospice is a process to end-of-life care and a kind of support facility for terminally ill patients. It provides comforting care, patient-centered care and related services. Comforting care relieves discomfort without improving the patient’s condition or curing his illness. Hospice is extended in a healthcare facility or at home. Its objective is to provide compassionate, emotional, and spiritual care for the dying patient.

1.1 Caring for patients at the end of life is a challenging task that requires not only the consideration of the patient as a whole but also an understanding of the family, social, legal, economic, and institutional circumstances that surround patient care.

Caring for patients at the end of life is a challenging task that requires not only the consideration of the patient as a whole but also an understanding of the family, social, legal, economic, and institutional circumstances that surround patient care.

Hospice is a philosophy of care. It treats the person rather than the disease and focuses on quality of life. It surrounds the patient and family with a team consisting of professionals who not only address physical distress, but emotional and spiritual issues as well. Hospice care is patient-centered because the needs of the patient and family drive the activities of the hospice team.

The first hospice care was established in 1974. A hospice must make physician, nursing, drugs, and medical supply services available 24/7. It must have social workers and counseling services available to the patient and the family. Hospice also provides therapy and homemaker services when needed in order to be qualified under Medicare certification. Hospice is a combination of special services for terminal ill patients. Beside the medical service, hospice care also supports patients and family psychologically and spiritually to put their emotional suffering at ease. The psychological suffering can weight more than physical suffering. Many terminal ill patients cannot accept the bad news and living under emotional distress. Certified chaplains can work with people from different religions, they focus on the world-view of the patient and family. Using patient personal goal as the measurement, chaplains are the

Usually Medicare does not pay for long-term care; it will only pay for medically necessary skilled nursing facilities or home health care. With Medicare certain criteria has to be met for certain conditions for Medicare to pick up the cost. Medicare also does not pay for any kind of long-term care that helps assist with activities of daily living. This kind of care includes dressing, bathing, and using the bathroom. Medicare Advantage plans can offer limited skilled nursing facility and home care coverage if the patient’s long-term care is medically necessary. Medicaid offers coverage for both medical and non-medical associated long-term care, but the person will only qualify if they have less than $2000 in assets and income that is inadequate to pay for the cost of their care. If a veteran is at least 70% service connected disabled the Veterans Administration will pay the costs of long-term care for life. Long-term care that is not provided by the government is usually paid out-of –pocket by family members. Most people choose the option of home health care because long-term care is too costly.

Hospice care is a model of care that focuses on relieving symptoms and supporting patients with a life expectancy of six months or less (Altshuler, 2013). For most nurses, caring for a dying elder (individual aged 65 years and above) is a discrete, time-limited experience that begins with first contact, often in a hospital, emergency room, or long term care facility, and ends with the death itself (Phillips & Reed, 2008).

Planning for end of life care for a loved one can be a very difficult process for some families. Knowing that you are going to lose a loved one and planning for how they will be taken care of can be quite stressful. End of life planning can be used in two different scenarios one of which is for terminally ill patients and the other is for the aging and elderly. Planning for end of life care can be quite expensive with all of the doctor visits and counseling’s. In Obama’s Affordable Care Act there is some hope for the elderly for paying for some of these expenses.

I found it very interesting how the book talks about the value of life. It uses a comatose person as an example and states, “ Only when consciousness appears does the possibility for value arrive.” This specific statement made me think about my experience as a CNA. I work at a local hospital and have a variety of patients. However, one of the things the hospital offers is Hospice Care. I completely agree with the above statement about the value of life. I help people in their last hours of life. I’ve met family members that have come from many miles away to be with their dying relative. It’s only in the time of death that people take life into considerations and take time out of their day to be with them. I once read an article that said something