Hospice CareHospice care provides humane and compassionate care for people in the last phases of an incurable disease so that they may live as fully and comfortably as possible. The hospice concept is rooted in a centuries-old idea of offering a place of shelter and rest, of hospitality, to weary and sick travelers on a long journey. Dame Cicely Saunders at St. Christopher's Hospice in London first applied the term "hospice" to specialized care for dying patients in 1967.
Hospice is really a philosophy of care, a philosophy that says dying is inevitable, and that death should neither be hastened, nor postponed. Hospice seeks to help support the patient with dignity and quality by serving the whole person rather than the disease. It provides family-centered care involving the patient and family in making decisions. Care is provided for the patient and family 24 hours-a-day and 7 days-a-week. Hospice care can be given in the patient's home, a hospital, nursing home, or private hospice facility. Normally the hospice team includes, at a minimum, a team of doctors, nurses, social workers, counselors, and trained volunteers. They work closely together focusing on the dying patient’s needs, be they physical, psychological, or spiritual. Their goal is to help keep the patient as pain-free and lucid as possible, with family and friends nearby and involved in the persons total care. Indeed, Hospice care is a choice you make to enhance life for a dying person.
Eighty percent of people who use hospice care are over the age of 65, and are thus entitled to the services offered by the Medicare Hospice Benefit. This benefit covers virtually all aspects of hospice care with little out-of-pocket expense to the patient or family. As a result, the financial burden usually associated with caring for a terminally ill patient are virtually nonexistent. In addition, most private health plans and Medicaid in 45 States and the District of Columbia cover hospice services. Generally, most reimbursement sources require a prognosis of six months or less, if the illness runs its normal course. The patient, family, and doctor together decide when hospice services should begin. Consult your doctor about his or her involvement with hospice programs in your area. It is not uncommon at times for a patient to begin hospice services, and then for the disease to go into remission. When this happens you can be discharged from the hospice program and then may be resumed if needed at a later time.
