Hospice care is designed to ensure that your loved one’s last days are spent in a comforting, caring and supportive environment. It can also guide your family in navigating this challenging time. But when should your loved one join hospice care? What are the benefits? How involved can you get? In this post, we answer all these hospice care questions and more.
What Is Hospice Care?
Hospice care focuses on providing comfort in a person’s final days. It is for terminally ill individuals whose doctors believe that they have six months or less left to live (provided the illness runs its natural course). Hospice teams provide physical comfort and social, spiritual, emotional and mental support through this challenging period. There are 5,200 hospice care facilities nationwide, with 1.5 million patients.
9 Key Hospice Questions to Ask
It’s not easy for a family to decide to place their loved one in hospice care. Proper research and understanding of what to expect are critical. We encourage you to ask many questions so you can decide whether this is the right choice for your loved one.
Here are a few key questions to ask about hospice care to help guide your decision-making.
1. When Is the Right Time for Hospice Care?
The right time is when your loved one is facing a severe and incurable illness. Treatments may no longer be effective, or your loved one may not want to receive them anymore. Choosing this route involves shifting the focus from healing the illness to comfort, dignity and spiritual support.
Patients who qualify for hospice care have less than six months to live, and most who enroll in hospice do so when they are near the end of their life.
2. What Happens if Someone Under Hospice Care Lives Longer Than Six Months?
If your loved one lives longer than the expected six months, they may still receive care if their doctor confirms they’re eligible. In cases where the family decides to take their loved one out of hospice care, as long as their doctor certifies that they’re still eligible, they can later return.
3. What Services Are Included?
One of the most important questions to ask the hospice team is what services they provide. The type of care your loved one will receive depends on the facility you choose. However, most facilities offer the following services:
- Pain and symptom management
- Medication
- Emotional and spiritual support for your loved one and the family
- Financial advice
- Grief support
- Coaching the caregiver on how to best care for the patient
- Special services like physical and speech therapy
4. How Do Facilities Manage Pain and Symptoms?
Your loved one’s team of doctors and nurses will start by assessing their individual needs to help effectively manage challenges such as pain, anxiety, nausea or difficulty breathing.
In addition to the medicinal route, the facility may offer:
- Massages
- Relaxation techniques
- Applying heat or ice on relevant areas of the body
- Breathing exercises
5. What Are the Costs?
A good question to ask about your loved one’s hospice care is what expenses are involved. Hospital-based (HB) hospice care tends to be more expensive per day than home care, as it usually involves more medical staff and facility overhead costs, like room and board.
In terms of insurance, Medicare covers 100% of hospice care if you have Medicare Part A (Hospital Insurance) and meet additional requirements. Many private insurance plans also offer hospice coverage. However, it’s essential to check the specific benefits and compare.
6. What Are the Benefits?
If your loved one has been diagnosed with a severe illness, and the doctor has said that they have less than six months left to live, here are some benefits they can gain from a hospice care facility:
- Personalized, holistic care: Your loved one will receive personalized medical, emotional and spiritual support in the comfort of their home or a home-like facility.
- Peace of mind: The family can know that their loved one’s pain and symptoms are managed by end-of-life care experts, who are trained to navigate this often challenging period with patience and compassion.
- Support for family members: This period will be challenging for the patient and their family. Hospice care providers can help your family navigate this journey and prepare you for the often inevitable, like how to make decisions on funeral homes or popular funeral alternatives that you may be interested in.
7. How Can I Evaluate Hospice Care Providers?
It’s essential to make an informed decision when choosing hospice care providers. Here are some key factors to consider for your loved one’s care:
- Reputation: Research the facility’s history. How long has it provided hospice care? What do online reviews say about it?
- Accreditation: You’ll need a provider who is licensed by the state and has nationally recognized accreditation.
- Expertise: The hospice provider needs a multidisciplinary team, such as doctors, nurses, therapists and social workers, to provide the holistic care your parent needs.
- Location: Opt for providers within your area to ensure timely visits and emergency support for your parent.
- Spiritual and cultural considerations: Choose a flexible hospice provider to accommodate your parent’s cultural and spiritual beliefs during this challenging period.
- Family involvement: Look at the provider’s policy on family involvement in care processes and decision-making.
8. What Role Does the Family Play?
Hospice providers typically encourage families to be as involved as they wish. This might mean assisting with daily activities or simply spending quality time together. If your parent’s disease has affected their cognitive abilities to the point where they can’t make decisions on their own, your family will then have to work closely with the hospice team to create a personalized plan that respects your parent’s wishes.
9. What Medication Is Used?
This is one of the most important hospice interview questions. Your parent’s hospice care could involve a variety of medications throughout their stay, such as:
- Opioids for pain management and breathing issues.
- Anti-anxiety medication to reduce restlessness.
- Antiemetics to help control nausea.
- Anticholinergics to assist with congestion.
- Laxatives to address constipation.
In addition to medication, the hospice team may also provide oxygen tanks, bedside supplies, wound care and other supplies that prioritize dignity and quality of life.
Honor Your Loved One in Their Final Moments
Hospice care offers a compassionate and holistic approach for many individuals. While your loved one is in hospice care, funeral planning is a meaningful conversation to start having with your family.
Joseph A. Lucchese Funeral Home can help you make informed decisions that align with your preferences. Our compassionate staff makes it a mission to assist families with their funeral arrangements. Contact us today to learn more about how our tailored funeral services ensure your loved one rests in care and dignity.