BackHospice: Compassionate Care for Terminally Ill Patients and Their Families
Article submitted by Judy Wertz, Executive Director, Aseracare Hospice.
For more information, they can be reached at 1-800-517-5734.
One of the most dreaded words a person and/or their family could ever hear is that there is nothing else that can be done for their illness and it is time for Hospice. This elicits feelings of anger, unbelief, and grief. Will the person suffer? Will they be in pain? Will they be able to remain in the place of their choice to finish their journey? What people don't realize, is that the purpose of Hospice is to relieve these fears so their last days are ones of peace.
Hospice is a special kind of care designed to provide support for people during their final phase of terminal illness. Hospice is a steadily growing concept of humane and compassionate care which can be implemented in a variety of settings, such as patients homes, hospitals, or long term care facilities. Hospice care seeks to enable patients to carry on an alert, pain-free life and to manage other symptoms so their last days may be spent with dignity and quality at home or in a home-like setting.
Hospice's mission is to provide palliative and compassionate care to the terminally ill patient, so as to enhance natural death with dignity. The physical, spiritual, psychological, and social needs of patients and their families are addressed with special emphasis on family bereavement and grief support. Hospice care is a medically directed interdisciplinary team managed program of service that focuses on the patient and family as the unit of service.
Hospice provides not only the medical management, but utilizes complementary therapies, such as music, pet and massage therapy as well. Many of these modalities are very effective in providing relief and comfort.
Referrals to hospice should be made when the physician determines that a patient has six months or less to live. This is difficult to determine, but the hospice is always available for consultation. Hospice can do its best work when we have time to work with patients and families in preparing for the death.
Medicare, as well as most other third party insurances, covers hospice care. Most of the time there is no charge, co-payments or deductibles for the service which includes the care by the interdisciplinary team, medications, equipment and supplies. Hospice can help a person live out their remaining days in dignity and comfort by providing humane and compassionate care.