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When is it time for Hospice?

Even though hospice care has been available in the U.S. for nearly 50 years there are still many misperceptions about hospice that are common in our society. One of the most unfortunate of these mistaken beliefs is that “hospice care hastens death.” In fact, studies have shown that patients who enroll in hospice actually live longer than those with similar illnesses who do not receive hospice care. Many families report they wish they would have started hospice sooner.

Crucial Conversations

If someone you know is showing noticeable health declines or significant ongoing pain, and curative treatment is no longer an option, it might be time to talk about hospice.   Many times, our medical community is hesitant to have the crucial conversation because they are uncomfortable with the topic. Asking the question, "What do you think about hospice" opens the doors for many practitioners. Patients who begin hospice earlier have a higher quality of life, fewer hospitalizations and lower medical costs. The cost of hospice care is covered by Medicare, Medicaid and most private insurance.

Shoreline

Everyone Needs a Helping Hand at one Time or Another

No hospice journey is the same, and our team of clinicians will help you navigate in developing a care plan that meets your unique needs, and those needs will change over the course of your time with hospice.  The list of resources below is a sample of available resources to you and your loved ones while on hospice.

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  • Respite Care:   Caregivers sometimes need a break or need to attend an important wedding or event.  Cawley Hospice provides respite care, allowing family caregivers to take a much-needed break from the demands of providing care to a loved one. Allowing caregivers with the opportunity to attend to their own physical, emotional, and spiritual needs.

  • Advanced Care Planning:  The team will facilitate informed decisions about care, encompassing discussions on advance directives, end-of-life care preferences, and palliative care alternatives. These conversations help avoid unwarranted hospitalizations and ensure care aligns with patient desires.

  • Enhanced Symptom Management:  Our team is focused on alleviating symptoms and ensuring comfort, reducing the necessity for hospitalization. Cawley Hospice works closely with you and your caregivers to devise personalized care plans, addressing unique needs and preferences, including the management of pain, breathlessness, and edema.

  • Bereavement Care:  Cawley Hospice provides extended bereavement services to help families and caregivers navigate the grieving process after the loss of their loved one. These services can include counseling, support groups, and various resources designed to guide families through their grief. ​

Get Your Answers

I thought that if my mother was under the care of hospice, she could no longer go to the hospital if she needed to. In the past year, she has been hospitalized several times because her pain got out of control.

While we strive to manage pain and other uncomfortable symptoms outside of the hospital, a hospice patient always has the choice of whether or not go to the hospital. The Medicare Hospice Benefit covers short-term general inpatient care in the hospital when a patient’s symptoms can no longer be managed in another care setting.

I thought that hospice was only for patients with cancer. I didn’t realize that my husband who suffered from Alzheimer’s disease could have benefited from support from the hospice caregiving team too.

More than 60 percent of hospice patients nationwide have diagnoses other than cancer. Many patients have other diagnoses or advanced stages of chronic diseases like pulmonary disease, Alzheimer’s disease, renal disease HIV/AIDS and cardiovascular or neuromuscular diseases.

My dad lives at home. We weren’t considering hospice for dad because we thought it was too expensive. Between the doctor’s visits and the cost of medications today, we have to save everything we can to make sure we can care for his ongoing needs.

We believe regardless of ability to pay; everyone has the right to end of life care at Cawley Hospice. The Medicare and Medicaid Hospice Benefits cover services at 100%, so there is no cost to the patient. If patients have private insurance or managed care, we will assist in determining any out-of-pocket costs.

I wanted to learn more about hospice, but thought I had to wait for the doctor to bring it up first so he could order it for my sister.

Patients can choose for us to meet with them and discuss the benefit of hospice at any time. We cannot provide hands-on care to a patient without a physician’s order. We work with each patient’s physician to identify each patient’s individual needs.

I was so scared to even say “hospice.” I thought that it meant I had to give up. Give up hope. Give up trying. Give up praying for a cure.

In order to receive hospice, the patient must be eligible and have an understanding that hospice focuses on comfort care (palliative), not cure. Hospice helps patients and families understand the changes happening to them on their own terms and in their own time frame. It is important to get hospice early so that the benefit can help patients prepare and get ready for what is happening; it is not required that patients be ready prior to receiving care.

I always thought that “hospice” was a place - that building that I passed on the way home from work.

Hospice is a philosophy of care, not a place. We provide care any place you call home, whether that is a personal home, a skilled nursing center, assisted living facility or anywhere else.

Free Community Presentations

  • Hospice 101

  • The Endless Journey Difference

  • The Holistic Approach

  • Five Wishes/Consider the Conversation

  • Veterans at End of Life

  • Soul Injury

  • Five Words That Matter Most – Hospice Stories of Forgiveness and Hope

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