What is Hospice?

Hospice is a service that provides end-of-life cares focusing on comfort of the mind, body, and spirit.

Hospice is for those with a terminal (life ending) diagnosis who are electing no further treatments towards curing the disease.

Hospice is for those with a prognosis (or life expectancy) of six-months or less should the disease take its normal course (as determined by a physician).

Hospice is for those that are electing comfort cares instead of aggressive treatment.

Hospice is not just for the final days of life.

What are the four different types of hospice care?

• Routine Home Hospice Care: Routine hospice visits provided in your loved one’s home – wherever home is for your loved one.
• General Inpatient Care: Hospice care provided in a hospice-designated facility, for acute (comes on suddenly) symptom management.
• Continuous Home Care: Hospice care for your loved one that requires the hospice nurse to stay with your loved one for a longer period of time, in your loved one’s home, to manage an acute symptom.
• Respite Care: This is a short-term stay at an approved facility to allow the home hospice patient’s unpaid caregiver a respite, or break, from caregiving.

Where can hospice cares be provided?

Routine Hospice services can be provided anywhere your loved one calls “home”. This can be in a private home, apartment, condominium, assisted living, CBRF (Community Based Residential Facility), Memory Care Unit, Group Home, or even in a Skilled Nursing Facility (SNF). The hospice team will work together with caregivers at facilities to coordinate hospice cares and end of life comfort, wherever home is for your loved one.

Goals of Hospice Care

• Provide comfort
• Provide education
• Provide support
• Provide cares specific to the end of life wishes of the hospice patient

Makes a Difference

I’ve learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.

Maya Angelou

Hospice Really Cares

Hospice is a journey. It is a journey that has one destination. We all get one shot at dying and transitioning into our next destination. Hospice can help guide you and your love one on this last journey.