Hospice care is a vital service providing comfort, dignity, and support to individuals with life-limiting illnesses during their final stages. This type of specialized care focuses on enhancing the quality of life for patients and their families, emphasizing comfort and relief from pain and symptoms rather than curative treatments. Let’s take a closer look at what hospice care is exactly and how it can be provided both at home and in a hospice facility.
When Is Hospice Care Needed?
Hospice care is a philosophy of care that aims to support patients with a serious illness and their families through the end-of-life journey. It is a holistic practice that involves taking care of a patient’s medical, emotional, and spiritual needs as they manage a terminal illness such as advanced cancer, late stage kidney disease, or other similar condition.
The question of when assisted living is needed has some limitations when it comes to hospice care—usually, this is recommended when the patient has only six months to live according to a doctor’s prognosis. This prognosis is a requirement for having hospice care covered by Medicare, although if a patient lives longer, the doctor can renew this authorization.
In hospice care, attempts to cure the patient’s illness are stopped. Instead, this type of care focuses on managing symptoms, controlling pain, and promoting quality of life, all while respecting the patient’s wishes and helping them live as comfortably and fully as possible during their remaining time. This is different from palliative care, in which curative treatments can still be applied.
Choosing Hospice Care
Making the decision to pursue hospice care is deeply personal and often involves careful consideration of the patient’s medical condition, prognosis, and preferences. Hospice care can be initiated when a patient’s healthcare team determines that curative treatments are no longer effective or desirable and that comfort-focused care is the most appropriate option.
A patient can also choose to enter hospice care by refusing curative treatments, usually because these treatments are high-risk or may come with intolerable side effects.
When the patient is in the position of choosing hospice care, they may have the option of moving to a hospice facility, but many individuals elect instead to receive hospice care at home, living out the remainder of their life in familiar surroundings.
What Is A Hospice Facility?
A hospice facility, also known as a hospice house or residential hospice, is a specialized care facility dedicated to providing end-of-life care to individuals with terminal illnesses. These facilities offer a peaceful and supportive environment where patients can receive round-the-clock medical care, symptom management, and emotional support from a multidisciplinary team of healthcare professionals.
Hospice facilities are designed to prioritize comfort and dignity, ensuring that patients and their families feel supported and respected throughout the end-of-life journey. However, not everyone wishes to be institutionalized, and patients may prefer to undergo care at home.
What Is Hospice Care At Home?
Hospice care at home allows patients to receive end-of-life care in the comfort and familiarity of their own living space. In many cases, the patient’s family members or loved ones will provide day-to-day assistance with activities like moving around the home, grooming, and housekeeping. At the same time, nurses or spiritual counselors will step in as needed to provide pain relief, guidance, and support.
Receiving hospice care at home is more flexible than living at a facility and allows for personalized support tailored to the patient’s needs and preferences. It also allows them to remain surrounded by loved ones while receiving compassionate care.
Can I Get Paid For Hospice Care?
Being a caregiver is a lot of work for family members, but they don’t have to go at it alone–they can access considerable resources to support them via care agencies.
For example, as an established care agency, Nova Home Care supports family caregivers with financial support, vacations, and healthcare, employing them so that they can provide the best quality care for their loved ones.
With Nova Home Care, family caregivers get paid for providing non-medical hospice care. Our care services include:
- Personal care – assistance with daily living, moving around the house, and personal grooming
- Homemaking – household chores, laundry, cleaning, meal preparation
- Companionship – caring for the emotional needs of the client through company and activities
- Transportation – to and from social events, medical appointments, and other occasions
- Care Coordination – working with medical personnel and third party services to ensure the clients needs are all taken care of.
If the person receiving hospice care has more specialized needs, such as skilled nursing care, our care coordinators can also arrange for specialists as part of the care plan.
If you are providing or considering hospice care with a family member, then Nova Home Care may be able to help you. Our services are covered by Medicaid, and we can guide you through the qualification process and setting up a care plan that pays for family caregivers and addresses all the patient’s needs.
Interested in knowing more? Nova Home Care serves the states of Indiana, Arizona, Minnesota, Colorado, and Connecticut. If you live in one of these states and are considering hospice care for a loved one who might qualify for Medicaid, use our referral form for guidance on your care journey.
Embracing Compassionate End-of-Life Care At Home
In times of terminal illness, hospice care offers invaluable support and comfort to patients and their families. Nova Home Care understands just how precious every moment of life is, and how important it is to live with dignity and in comfort in the home you love. Our hospice care philosophy prioritizes dignity, compassion, and quality of life, and helping individuals navigate their end-of-life journey with grace and peace.
Looking for compassionate non-medical hospice care services at home? Contact Nova Home Care today for personalized and compassionate support tailored to your needs.