Hospice Care
Hospice care is a special kind of care that focuses on the quality of life for people and their caregivers who are experiencing advanced, life-limiting illnesses. Hospice care provides compassionate care for people in the last phases of incurable disease so that they may live as fully and comfortably as possible.
Hospice services include:
- Time and services of the care team, including visits to the patient’s location by the hospice physician, nurse, medical social worker, home health aide and chaplain/spiritual adviser
- Medication for symptom control or pain relief
- Medical equipment like wheelchairs or walkers and medical supplies like bandages and catheters
- Physical and occupational therapy
- Speech-language pathology services
- Dietary counseling
- Any other Medicare-covered services needed to manage pain and other symptoms related to the terminal illness, as recommended by the hospice team
- Short-term inpatient care (e.g. when adequate pain and symptom management cannot be achieved in the home setting)
- Short-term respite care (e.g. temporary relief from caregiving to avoid or address “caregiver burnout”)
- Grief and loss counseling for the patient and loved ones
Palliative Care
Palliative care is specialized medical care for people living with a serious or terminal illness. This type of care is focused on providing relief from the symptoms and stress of the illness. The goal is to help match treatment options to goals and improve the quality of life for both the patient and the family while reducing the emotional effects of the illnesses.
The Palliative care team will assist with:
- Relief of symptoms and distress
- Education with the patient to better understand the disease and diagnosis
- Help clarify treatment goals and options
- Understand and support the patient’s ability to cope with their illness
- Assist with making medical decisions
- Coordinate with other doctors
