Hospice care comes into play during one of the most difficult points in a person's life--the time leading up to death. Minnesota Network of Hospice & Palliative Care has resources to help individuals and families gather the information they need as they navigate through this difficult time.
Hospice care is a special kind of care that an individual and their family or loved ones can choose. Hospice care helps people live their final months in comfort and dignity, and it provides support and help for family and caregivers.
Hospice helps by:
-emphasizing living as fully as possible during an individuals last stage of life
-providing relief from physical, spiritual, and emotional pain that can accompany a terminal illness
-caring for the whole person and their loved ones
-providing grief support
Hospice care can be provided wherever an individual calls home, including:
-a private home
-an assisted living facility
-a hospital
-hospice facility that is devoted solely to hospice care
A hospice team may include:
-doctors or nurse practitioners
-nurses
-social workers
-home health aides
-spiritual caregivers
-volunteers
-therapists
When To Seek Hospice Care
There may come a time when efforts to cure or slow an illness are not working and can even be harmful, rather than helpful. If that time comes, a patient may elect to transition from palliative care to hospice care.
How do you know when it’s time for hospice care? When the burdens of treatment outweigh the benefits. For instance, an aggressive treatment might give you another month of life, but make you feel too ill to enjoy that time. Palliative doctors can help you determine the advantages and disadvantages of specific treatments.
Following are some signs that you may experience a better quality of life with hospice care:
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You’ve made several trips to the emergency room and your condition has been stabilized, but your illness continues to progress.
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You’ve been admitted to the hospital several times within the last year with the same symptoms.
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You wish to remain at home, rather than spend time in the hospital.
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You are no longer receiving treatments to cure your disease.
Hospice care is covered by the Medicare Hospice Benefit (Part A), Medical Assistance, MinnesotaCare and many private insurance companies.
Frequently Asked Questions About Hospice
What is hospice care?
Hospice care is a special kind of care that an individual and their family or loved ones choose. Hospice care helps people with life-limiting illnesses live their final months in comfort and with dignity. Hospice care is special because it also helps the individual’s family and caregivers.
How can hospice care help me and my family?
Many families have little or no experience caring for someone who is dying. The hospice team can help you and your family or loved ones in many ways. For example, the hospice team provides comfort care to relieve pain and symptoms, offers emotional and spiritual support, teaches specific care techniques, arranges for necessary equipment, and answers questions you or your family may have.
Where can I receive hospice care?
Wherever you call home. For example, a private home, an assisted living center, long-term care facility, hospital, group home, foster home, or an apartment.
When should I talk to my doctor about hospice?
Ask your doctor and talk with your family about your care options and services, including hospice, in the early stages of a serious illness that can shorten your life. Hospice services can help you and your family for months, not just days.
What if I live alone or don’t have family nearby?
The hospice team can talk to you about choices for staying safe and comfortable in your home, even if you live alone. Hospice services may also be available in your region through nursing home facilities or residential hospices.
When is hospice care available to me?
The hospice team will talk to you and your family about how often you need regular visits and then schedule them. The hospice team itself does not provide 24-hour care, but can help make arrangements if that is what you need. Hospice care includes access to a registered nurse who is on-call 24 hours a day, 7 days a week for emergency situations.
Who pays for hospice?
Hospice services are paid for by Medicare, Medical Assistance, MinnesotaCare, most private health insurance companies, or you may pay privately. Veterans’ benefits are also available. Your hospice program works with you and your family to identify ways to pay for services.
Can I choose to end hospice care once I have enrolled?
Hospice care is always the choice of you and your family. If you would like to stop hospice care services at any point, that choice is yours. You always have the choice to re-enroll at a later date if you are still eligible.
Does hospice provide any support to the family after the patient dies?
Hospice provides grief support to the family for up to 13 months following the patient’s death.
I am interested in learning more. What is next?
Contact MNHPC at i[email protected] and request “Choosing Hospice: A Consumer’s Guide”
Talk to your current provider and/or primary physician about hospice services and any recommendations they might have. A physician can make a referral to a hospice program. If your physician has not brought it up, you should ask for more information when you and your loved ones are ready. You can also contact hospice providers directly or view their websites to learn more.
Selecting a Hospice Provider
Talk to your current provider and/or primary physician about hospice services and any recommendations they might have. A physician can make a referral to a hospice program. If your physician has not brought it up, you should ask for more information when you and your loved ones are ready. You can also contact hospice providers directly or view their websites to learn more.
Hospice Team and Services
Hospice care is provided by a team of professionals with the patient and his/her loved ones at the center of all decision-making. A hospice team includes doctors, nurses, social workers, spiritual caregivers, grief counselors, hospice aides, volunteers, and therapists. Depending on the hospice care provider, additional therapies may be available, including music, pet, or massage therapy.
The hospice team's goal is to work with an individual and his/her loved ones to provide the care that matters most to a patient.
A hospice team works to:
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Provide care that relieves pain and symptoms. This care includes medication and physical, occupation, nutrition, and/or speech therapies.
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Respond to emergencies or questions 24/7.
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Offer counseling and spiritual support.
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Teach families and caregivers specific care techniques, such as turning, positioning and transferring, bathing and giving medications.
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Arrange for necessary equipment such as hospital beds, oxygen, bedside commodes and wheelchairs.
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Coordinate any additional help and special services needed in the home.
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Offer grief support, which may include writing letters, making telephone and personal contacts, counseling, or providing opportunities to share experiences in organized support groups.
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Provide information about hospice care settings outside the home, such as nursing homes or residential hospices.
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Provide or coordinate short-term inpatient care, or respite care, when a caregiver needs relief.
Family or loved ones play an important role on the hospice team by:
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providing a safe, comfortable environment
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alerting the rest of the hospice team of changes in the patient's condition
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providing personal care such as feeding, bathing, turning, and giving medications
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