Hospice Care

Hospice Care Hospice care is something that was created to help those with terminal illnesses. The philosophy of hospice is that every person deserves to live out his or her life with respect and dignity, alert and free of pain, in an environment that promotes quality of life (Hospicefed, 2004). Hospice care has the five W’s. Who is eligible for hospice? When is it time for hospice? Why should we choose hospice? Where is hospice care provided? What makes hospice care unique? These five W’s are what describes the hospice care. The who is the terminally ill with a life expectancy of six months or less (Hospicefed, 2004). The when is the time that treatment changes from treating to providing comfort. The why is based on the patient and all loved ones involved as well as the physician. Hospice assures the patient state of the art pain control and symptom management (Hospicefed, 2004). Hospice lets the patient live the last of their time at home with their families, and helps the families to support each other during their hard time. The where is up to the patient and what they have available to them. Most patients use their own home with the help of family. Some use facilities that hospice uses when enough family is not available to help with the treatments. Most important of the five W’s is what makes hospice care unique? Hospice care centers around the patient and family (Hospicefed, 2004). The goal for hospice is to help patients make their own choices with the help of hospice. Hospice helps the patient and family with access to information and resources they will need during their challenging time (Hospicefed, 2004). Hospice mainly deals with the terminally ill. They work with them to ease the pain and make them as comfortable as possible. Hospice works with patients and their families. Hospice teams are made up of professionals and volunteers. They include: the patient’s physician, the hospice’s medical director, contacted nurses, certified home health aides, licensed social workers, pastoral counselors, bereavement counselors, rehabilitation therapists, and volunteers. They have specialized programs for children, persons with AIDES and residents of extended care facilities (Hospicefed, 2004). Their services also get extended out to people in the community who have had a loss and are grieving, even though the loved one was not helped by hospice. Some hospices provide palliative care services for patients diagnosed with progressive disease for which hospice care is not yet appropriate (Hospicefed, 2004). The palliative care promotes optimal care relief of pain and other physical symptoms and enhances the patient and family’s quality of life through support for emotional, social, and spiritual priorities (Hospicefed, 2004). They also have a specialized program for Alzheimer’s disease. They serve many different type of people which make them a special group of people. The reason I chose this organization is for a personal reason. My father had lung cancer and the doctors determined there was nothing left that they could do. They explained to him and me about hospice. He was of course all for it because it meant that he would be able to go home. My father did not like hospitals. I was a little nervous about the whole thing. When he got home, which was at my house, they came in and did the assessment. They determined what medicines he needed to keep him comfortable and what equipment was going to be needed for him for his stay at my house. They were very helpful. They