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What is Hospice?

 

 

Hospice is a program of compassionate, family-centered care that allows terminally ill patients to remain at home, in control of their lives, and surrounded by loved ones. A team of hospice professionals provides not only expert pain and symptom management, but also emotional and spiritual support, which extends to bereavement care for families after a patient has died. Hospice focuses on quality of life rather than length of life; to that end, hospice neither hastens death nor prolongs life. The hospice team includes a medical director, nurses, social workers, home health aides, chaplains, a music clinician, bereavement counselors, and trained volunteers. With input from the patient, the family, and the patient's primary physician, hospice creates a plan of care and provides instruction and support to the primary caregivers. Caregivers may include a spouse, family members, paid caregivers, or friends who accept the day-to-day responsibility for the patient's care. Hospice patients may also reside in nursing homes or assisted-living facilities. Hospice services are available to patients of any age, religion, race, or illness. Hospice care is covered under Medicare, Medicaid, most private insurance plans, HMOs, and other managed care organizations.