What does hospice care means? It is basically a type of aid provided to people with incurable illness. There are many senior care options that relatives and caretakers must face and acknowledge. Being one of them, Hospice care is often known as “end of life care”. Mostly, it is merely for the people that have six or less months of life remaining and provided by both health professionals and volunteers offering spiritual or medical support. The caretakers provide both physical and mental comfort to the people in pain.

What is Hospice care?

It is a service which brings care into your own home as most of the people want to spend the last days into their home. But in some cases, it becomes difficult and hospices provide inpatient care or nursing facility for the patients. It focuses mainly on the patient’s care so that they may live with full comfort during their last days. Hospice doesn’t deny the fact of death and work for the quality and morality of person’s last days. It provides a level of personal care which one can’t find in the hospitals. Most of the people fear that accepting hospice is like giving up but in fact, it is an appropriate choice to help the people in living comfortably depending on your needs.

What Hospice provides?

Why to choose Hospice care? It is a main question of people taking medication process!! It provides a lot of professional services like routine and after hours nursing visits. The nurse will visit on a regular basis to carry out every small to big tasks including medical supply arrangements, changes as needed. The nurse will be there for any kind of emergency medication in your home and for assistance to your queries. The major positive point of Hospice care is that the service now comes to you and you don’t need to go to any doctor’s office. The service has made help just a call away so that you don’t feel alone anymore. What more? You will get bathing aid, counseling sessions for emotional therapy, some of them provides music and massage therapy and physician visits.

How to choose?

After getting answer of why, now comes how to choose the best one. Finding out the appropriate hospice care for your loved one is a tenacious task especially in that difficult time. The first thing to remember during the search is get answers of your queries before the commitment. Take details of the business years, payment options, services they offer after hours and which hospitals and care facilities they routinely work with. Hospice can be provided at different location and it is up to you to choose which one suits you. It can be hospital, nursing home, any private building or patient’s own home as per their comfort as it is the main priority within the hospice community. They allow person to customize their care in the way they want and suits them.

Misconceptions related to Hospice

It is a misconception that this service is only for the patients who are dying which is not true. This care is appropriate for anyone with a chronic illness or injury that limits ability. The providers are trained to help those individuals to live their life to fullest and with comfort.





People fear that they need to leave home while taking Hospice service but this can be provided at person’s bedside at home. Though some of them are hospital or nursing based, still you can stay at your home while receiving Hospice care.

It is believed that this service is the end of traditional medical care which is wrong. Though it is right that the main focus of hospice is on comfort care, but it doesn’t disallow the other medical treatments. You can continue the other treatment options as well. Hospice providers collaborate with existing medical team to identify the aids that place the patient’s family at the centre of care. Hospice volunteers get involved in doctor’s medical care and support that too.

There is not any determined time period of Hospice services and you can receive this type of care even after the period of 90 day ends. It somehow depends on the doctor’s recommendation too.

This service does not settle to pain medication but also consolidates various physical and mental methods to keep the patients comfortable. Some of the activities include Yoga, art or music therapy, counseling and other spiritual methods.

Is this only for cancer patients? No. It is also common for those people with other diseases like AIDS, lung or cardiovascular diseases, neuromuscular and few others.

It is also a myth that people having this care are no longer cared by family members. To the contrary, hospice providers welcome the involvement of the loved ones and a large type of this care provide support for family members of the patient.

When to get hospice care? Getting hospice at the early stage reduces stress level, avoid burnout and guarantee an improved quality life of patient by providing an opportunity to thank and greet their family members. Core service of hospice care includes counseling, nutritional and doctor services. Other auxiliary are home care, physical therapy, medication administration and household services and you can ask your doctor about the hospice care. Don’t allow your fear to prevent you from getting the help and comfort you need.