There comes a time in many of our lives when we either take or are given the responsibility of caring for a seriously or terminally ill family member. It is a hard job and unfortunately can be made harder by our confusing and fragmented healthcare system. November is National Hospice and Palliative Care Month, and we’re reaching out to help our community understand the care options that are available to them and their loved ones.
Hospice is unique in that it offers an interdisciplinary team approach to treatment that includes expert medical care, comprehensive pain and symptom management, emotional and spiritual care, and assistance with every-day tasks. Caring for the whole person allows the team to address each patient's unique needs and challenges. In addition to caring for patients, hospice offers services for families and loved ones that provide emotional support, education, and advice to help family members become confident caregivers and adjust to the future with grief support for up to 13 months. There is so much that hospice care offers to patients and loved ones than most people understand.
The best time to learn about hospice — and to make plans for the kind of care you or a loved one would want — is before you are faced with a medical crisis. One of the most frequent comments we hear from families is, “Why did we wait so long before calling hospice?”
If you or a loved one is facing a serious or life-limiting illness or decline, the time to find out more about hospice care is right now. There are likely many hospice providers available in your community. We suggest visiting with two or three different providers in order to get a feel for the specifics that each provider offers. Not all are the same, and it’s free, easy and wise to see which one might be a good fit for your family before a crisis occurs. As a nonprofit hospice provider, our team is available 24 hours a day to answer whatever questions you may have about hospice services.
Darci Dooley, RN, CHPN
Care Initiatives Hospice