FAQ.

Hospice care is for any person who has a life-threatening or terminal illness. Most reimbursement sources require a prognosis of six months or less if the illness runs its normal course. All hospices consider the patient and family together as the unit of care.

The interdisciplinary team usually consists of: • The patient’s personal physician; • Hospice physician (or medical director); • Nurses; •Home health aides; • Social workers; • Spiritual care providers or other counselors; • Bereavement professionals; • Speech, physical, and/or other occupational therapists; and • Trained volunteers.

Hospice care is voluntary. This means that you and your family member can leave the hospice program for any reason, for example, if he or she is getting better. Later on, you can again start working with the same or another hospice program.

1.Care from a team of trained doctors, nurses, social worker, chaplain, home care aides and other health care providers. The team may also include physical and occupational therapists. 2.Family support. This includes emotional support as well as teaching how to do certain health care tasks such as medication administration and changing dressings. 3.Medication to relieve nausea, pain, shortness of breath, agitation, and other symptoms. ·Medical supplies and equipment, such as a hospital bed or wheelchair. 4.Access to the hospice team by phone 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. and more.

A hospice staff member will set up a meeting with you after your family member has been referred for hospice. This meeting is a time for you and your family member to ask questions and confirm if hospice is the right choice. If so, you will be asked to sign consent forms. The hospice team then begins working with your family member.

Hospice services can be provided to a person whose place of residence is a nursing home. This means the patient receives specialized visits from hospice nurses, home health aides, chaplains, social workers, and volunteers, in addition to other care and services provided by the nursing home. The hospice and the nursing home should have a written agreement in place in order for hospice to serve residents.

Now more than ever, patients and their families want the peace-of-mind that comes from receiving care and support for an advanced illness at home. We adhere to all CDC Infection control guidelines and always wear appropriate Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) to ensure the safety of our patients and their loved ones. For our patients who are already living in a skilled or assisted living facility, our hospice team can work with the facility to coordinate the best plan of care. Providing hospice care at a skilled or assisted living facility does not take the place of the facility’s existing staff. We supplement the facility’s care and coordinate between doctors, nursing staff, the patient, family and others to ensure you are always comfortable and your needs are being met.

On rare occasions, a hospice program will discharge (stop providing services to) a patient. This can happen if the patient gets better and no longer meets the 6-month prognosis. A hospice program may also discharge a patient if the home environment is not safe or the family refuses to cooperate with Hospice and Palliative Care Hospice programs cannot discharge patients because their care is too expensive or inconvenient. Patients and families can find it upsetting to be discharged from hospice. After all, you have come to rely on the team of hospice nurses, aides, and social workers. If your family member is discharged, the hospice team may help set up other home health services or move to a different level of care, such as a long-term care facility (nursing home).