Hospice:
Living with Dignity and Hope
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"You matter to the last moment
of your life, and we will do all we can, not only to help you die
peacefully, but to live until you die."
Dame Cicely Saunders, Founder of
the First Hospice
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What is Hospice Care?
What are the Criteria for Admission to Hospice Care?
What Services does Hospice Provide?
How is Hospice Care Paid For?
Why Hospice?
What is Hospice Care?
Generally considered a philosophy or program of care rather than a place, hospice is a unique
blend of services that address the physical, emotional, social, and spiritual needs of the terminally
ill person and his/her family. Hospice care is provided by an interdisciplinary group of professionals
and volunteers, guided by the goals of an individualized plan of care. Hospice care emphasizes
palliative (comfort) medicine and supportive services rather than cure-oriented therapies and
interventions. The ultimate goal of hospice is to help provide a period of relative comfort at
the end of life, allowing for growth and closure for patients and their loved ones. Hospice services
are usually provided in the patient's own home and in such alternative residences as nursing homes, hospice
residential facilities, assisted living facilities and other congregate living facilities.
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What are the Criteria for Admission to Hospice Care?
- The patient has a limited life expectancy, usually six (6) months
or less, as certified by their physician.
- The patient understands that hospice care is palliative, focused on
pain and symptom control rather than a cure for the disease.
- The patient chooses hospice care.
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What Services does Hospice Provide?
- The patient's Physician and the Hospice Medical Director consult with
the hospice team and direct the care.
- Hospice Nurses provide individualized care focused on providing comfort,
managing pain and symptoms, coordinating all hospice services, and educating
the patient and family to ensure the quality and continuity of care.
- Social Workers provide psychosocial and emotional support for the
patient and their family members and coordinate community services and
resources.
- Home Health Aides and Homemakers assist patients with personal cares
and light housekeeping.
- Trained Volunteers provide a variety of services focused on companionship
and support for the patient, and respite for the caregiver.
- Counseling services offer emotional and spiritual support to patients
and their families.
- Bereavement Counselors assist the family with grief and loss issues
following the death of the patient.
- The hospice team coordinates the provision of medical equipment, supplies,
and medications for pain relief and symptom management related to the
terminal diagnosis.
- On-Call services are provided by hospice nurses 24 hours a day, every
day of the year.
- Additional services including therapies, respite, inpatient, and continuous
care services are coordinated by the hospice team, as needed.
- Hospice offers care to residents of long-term care facilities who
are facing a terminal illness. In partnership with the long-term care
facility staff the hospice team provides state-of-the-art symptom management,
as well as emotional and spiritual support for residents and their families.
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How is Hospice Care Paid For?
Hospice services are paid for by Medicare (Part A), Medical Assistance,
MinnesotaCare, and commercial insurance. Hospice programs work with patients
and their families to identify ways to pay for services. However, care
is provided regardless of ability to pay.
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Why Hospice?
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Hospice offers help and support to the patient and
family on a 24-hour-a-day, seven-days-a-week basis. Patients routinely
receive periodic in-home services of a nurse, home health aide,
psychosocial professional and other members of the hospice interdisciplinary
team.
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Hospice treats the person, not the disease. Hospice
professionals and volunteers address the medical, social, psychological,
and spiritual needs of the patient and family.
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Hospice considers the entire family, not just the
patient, the "unit of care." Patients and families are
included in the decision-making process, and bereavement counseling
is provided to the family following the death of their loved one.
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Hospice offers palliative rather than curative treatment.
Sophisticated methods of pain and symptom control enable the patient
to live as fully and comfortably as possible.
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Hospice emphasizes quality, rather than length of
life. Hospice neither hastens nor postpones death: it affirms life
and regards dying as a normal process.
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Hospice is a covered benefit under Medicare, Medicaid,
and most private insurance plans.
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"Calling hospice is not 'giving up'….it is the opposite.
For my Mom, it meant a high quality of life and care from loving, committed and thoughtful professionals.
For that we are ever grateful."
A surviving daughter |
Information provided by: Hospice of Twin Cities
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