One reason people don’t access hospice care services as soon as they need them is that they’re not sure what it’s all about and how it works. Getting the answers to some of these questions can help to make everything about hospice a little more clear.
What is Hospice Care?
Hospice care is a specialized form of healthcare that offers comfort and support to people and their families when someone is nearing the end of life. Hospice focuses on managing symptoms and offering help with emotional, spiritual, and hands-on issues related to the end of someone’s life. This stage of life is complicated and there are lots of different concerns that family members and people nearing the end of life have and are worried about.
Who is Eligible for Hospice Care?
Unlike palliative care, which is available to people as soon as they’re diagnosed with life-limiting illnesses, hospice care is a little bit different. People who need hospice care are recommended to begin this type of care when they have a significantly shortened life expectancy. Most doctors begin recommending hospice when someone has six months or less that they’re expected to live. Patients can be recertified for hospice if they do live longer than six months, however.
How Does the Hospice Team Help?
Hospice teams are made up of a variety of different therapists, medical providers, and other types of healthcare professionals. Social workers, nurses, chaplains, and other team members all work together to offer the help that families need at the end of life. Pain and symptom management are more likely to be day-to-day concerns, while help with emotional and spiritual support is available as necessary. Hospice care providers also help with educating families about what is happening and how they can make their family member’s experience easier.
Does This Change in Care Mean Giving Up on Treatments?
Making the switch to hospice elder care doesn’t mean that families or patients are giving up. What it does mean is that the focus might not be on curative options any longer. Eventually, it can become clear that attempting to cure the illness may no longer be possible. That’s when shifting the focus to a type of care that is more about comfort and support is an important move. This type of care is about helping people to live comfortably for as long as they can during the end of their life.
How Does Hospice Care Impact End of Life Decisions?
If families have been avoiding talks about end of life decisions, hospice can help to facilitate those conversations. Hospice team members never force anyone to follow a specific care plan. What they do instead is offer options and solutions that are aligned with their goals for this stage of life. Hospice teams make finding resources much easier.
How Do People Pay for This Care?
One big concern about hospice care is how to pay for this type of care. Individual insurance plans vary, of course, but they usually have some provision for hospice coverage. Aging adults might have Medicare, Medicaid, or a combination of the two that covers hospice. Hospice elder care services can help patients to figure out what their insurance covers and how it applies to hospice programs.
Hospice elder care is a lot less complicated than it might seem at first. It helps to make sure that family members and patients ask questions so that they can get the answers that they need.
If you or your aging loved one could benefit from Hospice Care Services in Cope SC, contact the caring staff at Grove Park Hospice, at (803)536-6644.
Providing Hospice & Palliative Care in Orangeburg, Bamberg, & Calhoun Counties
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