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The hospice philosophy is a time-honored approach that until the 20th century, most people spent their last days at home, surrounded by the ones they love, allowing them to die with dignity and respect. The tradition faded as hospitals became places of healing in many Western countries. Recent studies in the substantial improvements in care where hospice programs address the needs of patients living with life-threatening and terminal illness has renewed interest in the time-honored philosophy that has come to be known as hospice care. With hospice care, instead of spending his or her last days, weeks or months in a hospital, a person can be with loved ones in the home or homelike setting. Although a large percentage of hospice patients live at home, hospice is available wherever a person lives, including a nursing home or assisted-living facility. There is a misconception that hospice takes care of patients dying with cancer. Many people receiving hospice care have cancer, but hospice is not limited to just cancer. Hospice is available for end-stage heart disease, dementia, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and other types of terminal illness as well. Here at Hospice Complete, we want you to know up front what we can do for you. We are willing and able to meet with you in person, over the phone, or through e-mail correspondence to get you the answers you deserve and need. Many of our patients come from our community referrals, people like you who have either talked with our staff or have experienced our services first hand. Community referrals share a special place in our hearts because it affirms our philosophy “A Family Approach to Hospice Care”. Here are eight important questions that you may need answered when researching a hospice provider. The answers below are our answers to the questions asked by NHPCO and are generalized answers, but the needs of each patient and family member are very unique and other services may be provided by our team that are not listed in these answers, but will be addressed to ensure the needs of the patient and family members are met. What services are provided? Among its major responsibilities, Hospice Complete interdisciplinary team: aspects of dying; too difficult to manage at home, or the caregiver needs respite time; bathing. counseling. What kind of support is available to the family/caregiver? Hospice Complete recognizes that care givers, whether they are family members or friends, have their own special needs for support. We begin our service by taking the time needed to get to know the patient and the family in order to understand and meet those special needs and priorities that are arising during this time of change. Support can take many different forms, including visits with the patient and family members; telephone calls to loved ones, about the patient's condition; educating the loved ones about the terminal illness and the progression of the disease; and teaching and helping loved ones how to deal with grief and how to say good-bye. Its our job to show family members and friends our experience in helping their loved one say good-bye and die with dignity and grace along side their family and friends as comfortable as possible in their own home or home facility. Counseling services for the patient and loved ones are an important part of hospice care. After the patient's death, Hospice Complete bereavement support is offered to families for at least one year, -- depending on the case we often provide these services much longer. These services can take a variety of forms, including telephone calls, visits, and written materials about grieving. What roles do the attending physician and hospice play? It is important to find out what the role of the patient's primary doctor will be once the patient begins receiving hospice care. Most often, hospice patients can choose to have their personal doctor involved in the medical care. The patient's physician and Hospice Complete’s medical director work together as a team to coordinate the patient's medical care. Our medical director is also available to answer questions you or the patient may have regarding hospice medical care. What does the hospice volunteer do? Hospice volunteers enhance quality of life and help reduce the burden of care giving. They are generally available to provide different types of support to patients and their loved ones including running errands, preparing light meals, staying with a patient to give family members a break, lending emotional support and companionship to patients and family members, and helping out with light housekeeping. Because our volunteers spend time in your home, it is important for us to have an application and interview process. In addition, to an interview process we have an organized training program for volunteers. Areas covered include confidentiality, listening skills, signs and symptoms of approaching death, working with families, loss and grief, and bereavement support. We offer training programs on the 1st and 3rd Friday of every month. Call our office to schedule for Volunteer training and help us give back to the community. How does hospice work to keep the patient comfortable? Many patients experience pain and other distressing symptoms as illness progresses. Our staff receives special training to effectively anticipate, assess, treat, and prevent all types of physical symptoms that cause discomfort and distress. Because symptom management, especially pain, is such an important component of hospice care, we have developed ways to measure how well we do in this area through surveys and studies. Our staff also works with your physician and our Medical Director to make sure that medication, therapies, and procedures are designed to achieve the goals outlined in your plan of care. Your plan of care is evaluated frequently to reflect changes and new goals. How are services provided after hours? We have an on-call service that answers or phones after hours, on week-ends, and holidays. Even though the office is closed, we have on-call personnel to handle after hour needs. Needs can and will be met seven days a week, 24 hours a day. Our staff, nurses, social workers, and Chaplains are available to respond to a call for help within minutes, should the need arise. How and where does hospice provide short-term inpatient care? Hospice Complete has an arrangement in place with independent nursing homes and hospitals, to care for patients who cannot reside in a private residence. Hospice Complete recognizes that in certain cases patients may require an alternative place to live during this final phase of their life when they need extra care and during this time. Hospice Complete works with the family and helps research what is best for the patient and family. Can hospice be brought into a nursing home or long-term care facility? Hospice services can be provided to a terminally ill person whose place of residence is a nursing home. This means the patient receives all the services that we provide in addition to services provided by the nursing home. The only requirement is that Hospice Complete has a written agreement with the facility in order for our hospice to provide care for the residents. |
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Family Education
CMS Hospice Benefit
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