November is National Home Care & Hospice Month, a time to celebrate the caring professionals and volunteers who deliver health care services in patient’s homes.
When some hear “hospice,” they think of death. But hospice can be so much more than that. While conversations around end-of-life care can feel daunting, hospice services provide a team of people to support patients and families throughout their journeys.
Even if there isn’t an immediate need, it is important for people to better understand what hospice is and how it can benefit both patients and their loved ones.
Here are 10 things to know about hospice care.
- Hospice is a benefit program covered by Medicare and Medicaid that provides end-of-life care typically in patients’ homes. Hospice-related expenses, such as nursing, medicine, and equipment are covered as part of these benefits.
- People with a terminal illness and a life expectancy diagnosis of six months or less qualify for hospice care. Patient qualification for hospice occurs based on their prognosis, not the length of time they actually live. Patients who live longer than six months can still remain in hospice.
- Patients do not need a physician’s referral to connect with hospice services. Hospice agencies evaluate patients and can coordinate with their physicians.
- Hospice shifts the emphasis of treatment from curative efforts to comfort care, managing the symptoms rather than treating the illness itself. Home hospice typically supplements caregiving rather than replacing it. Nurses do not stay around the clock. Rather, members of the hospice team coordinate and visit the patient and family at various times.
- Hospice services include nursing, case management, social work, spiritual counseling, and more. Patients and their loved ones tailor care to their own needs. Volunteers are also available to help in a variety of manners, such as sitting with patients, reading to them, writing down their memories, or grocery shopping for the home.
- Hospice teams help support not only the patient but their loved ones both in the end-of-life process and afterward. Bereavement support is offered for up to 13 months following the patient’s death.
- For those with insurance that does not cover hospice or for those without insurance, nonprofit hospice agencies like CHP Home Care & Hospice have community funds available to those needing care but without the means to pay. Hospice social workers play a large role in supporting patients of different socioeconomic statuses, including those without stable housing, and connecting them with various resources.
- Hospice professionals encourage people to take advantage of hospice care sooner rather than later because it can improve quality of life and ease the caregiving responsibility for loved ones when there is time available to impliment support services. Unfortunately, many don’t seek hospice services until they are actively dying.
- Inpatient hospice services, like CHP-Defiance Inpatient Hospice Center, offers an additional option for those needing a higher level of medical care but still wishing to be in a home-like setting. Hospice services and respite care are covered under the hospice benefit, but there are additional charges for room and board.
- Not all hospice agencies are the same. “Hospice” is delivered by separate, independent providers – all of which vary in structure and operation. CHP Home Care & Hospice is a local, community-based, nonprofit organization.
Home health care is different from hospice. Home health services are delivered in a patient’s home, usually on a short-term basis to help individuals recovering from illness, injury, or surgery, as well as those managing chronic conditions or disabilities.
Skilled home health care is provided under the supervision of a physician and may include nursing, physical, occupational, or speech therapy, aide services, or medical social services.
To learn more about home health or hospice services, contact your local, CHP Home Care & Hospice location, or call 419-238-9223.
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