Hospice Care at Doctor’s Choice Hospice is provided by a skilled team of professionals working together to provide a high level of medical and end-of-life care. This professional team is made up of doctors, nurses, trained volunteers, social workers, grief counselors, spiritual advisors, and hospice aids. Our Doctor’s Choice Hospice team is available to care for your loved one who qualifies for hospice services 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
Hospice is For The Whole Family
When it comes time for a family member or close friend to consider hospice services, you might assume that the service is all about them, the patient. While it’s true that many services are provided to the patient, which are beneficial, the family as a whole can greatly benefit from hospice services in some lesser-known ways. For example, grief counseling and social work services help your entire family prepare for the loss of a loved one. This includes emotional factors as well as providing practical help like end-of-life plans, funeral arrangements, and more. It is simply a team of professionals who know what to expect, guiding an entire family through the process, which is immensely helpful when facing it for the first time.
It’s Not Giving Up
Hospice by nature is not a curative service. However, agreeing to hospice care for a loved one does not mean you are giving up on them or mean they are giving up on themselves. Instead, it is more about making the life they have remaining as pleasant and pain-free as possible. A patient qualifies for hospice care when they have been diagnosed with a terminal illness and have been given six months or less to live (among other factors). In some cases, patients outlive their diagnosis and remain on hospice for longer than the six months predicted.
You Can Stop Hospice Care
Another common idea that isn’t factual is that hospice care cannot be stopped once it is started. This simply isn't true. Patients always have the right to revoke or opt out of care at any point. In addition, if at any point the involved physician believes a patient’s diagnosis has changed, and they feel they could benefit from more curative services, then a reevaluation will be completed to determine if your loved one still needs the services or would benefit more from another form of care.
Hospice Can be In House Care
Hospice care does not only have to be given at a medical facility. In fact, one of the most popular aspects of hospice is that it can be set up in your loved ones home, giving the patient the added comfort of their own surroundings. Yes, your loved one can get hospice care in various facilities, but they can also choose to stay in their home and have the care come to them. Hospice care within a home usually includes setting up a place of care, such as having a portable hospital bed, medical chair, or other equipment delivered and set up in the home. It, in essence, means that the care offered in a medical facility is transferred into the comfort of home.
You Can Have Control Over Care
Another common myth about hospice is that it involves patients and their families giving up control over their own care. This is another belief that is not true. In reality, patients have all the power in the world to control various aspects of their care. Sure, they will be advised on what would be best for them in terms of various issues. However, what types of services they choose to welcome in, which ones they don’t want, and the overall decisions are theirs and their families to make.
Hospice Won’t Drive You to the Poor House
In many cases, hospice is a service that is covered by insurance companies. Therefore, it is extremely affordable for many patients. In fact, because it is a comprehensive service, families might actually save money by going on hospice care when compared to overseeing end-of-life care on their own. Many times hospice care includes medical equipment rental, medication costs, wound care and other supplies like those related to incontinence, and more.
Hospice Doesn’t Make Death Happen Sooner
The myth that hospice care can usher in death sooner is likely related to the use of morphine in pain management through the final weeks of a patient’s life. However, in reality, issuing appropriate doses of morphine does not hasten death’s arrival. Instead, it gives patients relief, making them as comfortable as possible while their body goes through the natural course of dying. When death comes, it is more related to a patient’s condition and its stage of advancement than anything given to the patient to make them more comfortable.
Hospice Care Isn’t Only For Cancer Patients
Hospice isn’t limited to cancer care; it applies to many end-stage illnesses. For example, patients who have liver disease, kidney disease, neurological conditions, cardiopulmonary disease, dementia, Alzheimer’s, and more could benefit from hospice care services. Your loved one only has to meet the criteria set by the hospice service being considered, along with their physicians to qualify for hospice care. It isn’t based on the type of condition they have necessarily.
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