When There's Illness, There's No Place Like Home

Submitted by Robin Marshall, General Manager of VITAS Innovative Hospice Care of New Jersey North. For more information about hospice, visit the National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization, www.nhpco.org, or call VITAS at 973-994-4738.

The diagnosis of a terminal illness brings with it a host of questions, fears and concerns: "Will I be able to handle the pain?" "How will my family care for me?" "How can I afford quality end-of-life care?" "How can God do this to me?" And the question we hear most frequently: "Can I stay at home?"

Faced with life-threatening illness, some 90 percent of patients prefer to remain in their homes, continuing the routines that make them most comfortable. Whether they live in their family home, an adult living community or a nursing home, they want to age-and die-in place.

For terminally ill patients, hospice makes that possible.

"Hospice care typically is provided in a patient's home; this allows the patient to stay in a familiar setting surrounded by family and friends," says Maureen Romeo, RN, home care team manager for VITAS Innovative Hospice Care® of New Jersey North.

Yet the perception persists that hospice means going to-or ending up in-a place. Hospice isn't a place. Hospice is a philosophy of care; it focuses on enhancing a patient's comfort and overall quality of life during the last months of life. By treating physical symptoms and providing pain management, as well as addressing emotional and spiritual concerns, hospice can make the dying process more meaningful for patients and their loved ones.

But what happens when a patient's symptoms-their pain, nausea or confusion, for example-worsen or become difficult to control? Even then, hospice offers options to help the patient remain at home. During those times, VITAS provides Intensive Comfort CareSM-a service that puts a trained clinician at the bedside up to 24 hours a day. It means a hospice patient doesn't have to choose between the comforts of home and the round-the-clock care of hospitalization.

"Hospice is a wonderful option for people facing the end of life. We ease the pain and the fears that can accompany incurable illness," says Romeo.