10 Benefits of Hospice Care

For many, hospice care is scary. Mostly because hospice care is viewed as giving up hope or control over you or a loved one’s end of life care. Most don’t fully understand what hospice is or how it can help patients and their families. In fact, hospice goes beyond just pain management and comfort measures.

1.       Hospice aims to provide the best…and the MOST of life. Hospice care goes beyond the physical illness and diagnosis to provide for the spiritual and psychosocial needs of the patient and the patient’s family.

2.       Helps to maintain a sense of dignity. Hospice offers the patient a chance to live their end of life with dignity. They are not hooked up to multiple machines. They are not poked or stuck every so often for more labs or tests. They are not bothered every couple of hours for vital signs or questioning.

3.       Provides the freedom to choose and respect the patient’s wishes. Hospice is focused on the end of life wishes of the patient and encourages the patient and the family to be active in the decision making.

4.       Offers a familiar environment. Hospice services can be offered in nursing homes and hospital settings. But most hospice services are provided in a patient’s home setting. This helps keep them comfortable and reduces anxiety by allowing the patient to be in an environment that they know and are familiar with.

5.       Emotional and Spiritual support. Hospice offers services such as Social Workers, chaplains, volunteers, and bereavement support to help the patient and the family navigate through the end of life process.

6.       Practical help. Hospice provides assistance from hospice care aides to help with activities of daily living such as bathing, dressing, and grooming.

7.       Medical Care expertise. Hospice provides a care team that is well versed and experienced with hospice care and the end of life stage.

8.       Interdisciplinary Team. Your hospice team is comprised of multiple medical disciplines to include doctors, nurses, social workers, hospice aides, volunteer coordinator, spiritual counselors, pharmacists, and bereavement counselors. All to ensure the patient and the family have all the assistance they need.

9.       24/7 Availability. While hospice is not in the home 24 hours a day, hospice families have access to a nurse on call 24/7. This also helps cut down on emergency room trips and hospitalizations.

10.   Family Counseling. Hospice doesn’t end when the patient dies. Bereavement counselors are available to the family to help them navigate every step of the end of life process, including after the patient is gone.

Grief starts with the initial diagnosis. Hospice services are there to ensure the patient, their family and their caregivers have all the tools and resources they need for every question, care and concern they have along the way. We are there for the process, not the illness.