Hospice care, often called simply hospice, is an approach to end-of-life care that focuses on providing comfort, dignity, and quality of life to patients with a terminal illness. Caring and patient-focused, it is a comprehensive service that addresses the whole patient and allows them to remain in their home or at a hospice center. While hospice care is often associated with the last days or weeks of life, it can also be helpful for patients who are expected to live longer.
Hospice is designed to make the patient comfortable and provide quality of life, not to attempt to extend the life of the patient. There are advance directives and other forms that are completed to ensure the wishes of the patient are honored through the service.
Staying at Home
One of the key advantages of hospice care is that it allows patients to remain in a familiar environment surrounded by their family, friends, and even their pets. While the individual is at home, the medical professionals, home healthcare services, and even social workers come to the home to support both the patient and their families. Medical equipment is provided as part of the service, ensuring the patient is comfortable and the family has the things they need to provide quality of care.
Personalized Pain Management
Hospice providers are experts in managing pain and other symptoms associated with a terminal illness. They provide medications, therapies, and other treatments to help patients feel more comfortable. They can also offer emotional support to both the patient and the family to help address the changes and the challenges of end of life.
Support For Families
Hospice care provides families with a sense of relief and support during an emotionally challenging and difficult time. The hospice team typically meets with the family on visits and assesses the needs of all in the household. Most hospice providers offer support groups, social workers, and access to grief counselors.
They can also provide respite care to give family caregivers a break and ensure that patients receive 24-hour care. Some hospice organizations have volunteers that come to the home and sit with the patient to allow the family short breaks throughout the week.
In Missoula, Montana, hospice care is a caring and compassionate option for patients who want to remain at home rather than go to a nursing home or hospital. The hospice team supports the patient and the family, including providing training, emotional support, medications, and medical equipment.