Health Champion Blog

Choosing End-Of-Life Care

There are no words to adequately express that moment when we fully realize our life — or that of a loved one — is nearing the end. If life follows a “traditional” pattern, it means sons and daughters are caring for aging and dying parents. While we struggle to make sense of the inevitable, we also need to make compassionate and practical decisions. One of those is centered around end-of-life care and when to call upon hospice for help.

From its beginning in 1967 in England, hospice was designed as a philosophy of empathetic care, rooted in the idea of offering shelter and hospitality to weary and sick travelers. It is both an approach to managing end-of-life care and a health benefit provided by insurance plans and Medicare (for those who qualify for Medicare Part A and meet other requirements).

Hospice Care . . .

• Requires written orders from a physician, for individuals with a life expectancy of six months or less. In the case of a Medicare beneficiary, the hospice order can be renewed after six months for 90 days at a time.
• Provides palliative care to terminally ill patients who have decided not to seek a cure for their disease. While medical treatments continue, including use of antibiotics, the primary objective is providing comfort to the patient.
• Is family-centered, helping families cope with the physical and emotional process, while encouraging patients to live as fully as possible during the end stages of their illness.
• Can be provided in a variety of settings: home or a residential facility, such as extended care facility, or nursing home. Some acute care hospitals even have dedicated hospice units.

With hospice, patient and family members benefit from palliative care delivered by a coordinated team of caregivers that includes doctors, nurses, spiritual counselors, pain specialists, social workers and specially-trained volunteers.

Learn more about hospice care:

Healthfinder
Consumer healthcare information from the U.S. Government, with selected online publications, databases, web sites and support groups.
http://www.healthfinder.gov.

Hospice Foundation of America
Phone: 202-638-5419
http://www.hospicefoundation.org.

Medicare & Hospice:
www.medicare.gov/publications/pubs/pdf/hosplg.pdf

National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization
www.nhpco.org/templates/1/homepage.cfm