What is Hospice?
Hospice is a concept of health care that provides holistic services for the physical, emotional, and spiritual needs of terminally ill patients and their families. The goal of hospice is not to cure illness nor hasten death, but to ease a patient’s passage from life. Hospice is a special kind of care for people who are living with an end-stage disease. With hospice, pain and discomfort are controlled with expertise and compassion. The unit of care is the family as well as the patient, and they choose from an array of services that ease the physical, psychological, social and spiritual stress that come at this time. The family receives ongoing support even after the patient dies.
Hospice is not a specific place–it is a specialized program of care for patients with a limited life expectancy and for their family and friends. There are over 2,000 hospice programs in the United States today, and according to the National Hospice Organization, there were about 390,000 hospice patients in the United States in 1995. With its comprehensive array of medical and social services, hospice strives to meet each patient’s unique physical, emotional, social and spiritual needs, as well as the special needs of the patient’s family and close friends. The goals of hospice are to keep the patient as comfortable as possible by relieving pain and other discomforting symptoms; to prepare for a death that follows the wishes and needs of the patient; and to reassure both patient and family members by helping them to understand and manage what is happening. This support assists patients and families through the process of facing, understanding and accepting death. The first modern hosp
Today, hospice is seen my many as a philosophy, rather than a place. The hospice approach to care is a comprehensive program for terminally ill patients to help them live to the fullest by meeting their physical, emotional and spiritual needs at the end of life. The goal of hospice is to help patients be as pain and symptom free as possible, so that they can enjoy life surrounded by loved ones. At Hospice of Huntington, we understand the effect a terminal illness can have upon a patient and family. When hospice care is introduced in the early stages of a terminal illness, patients may find that their pain and symptoms are managed so effectively they are able to join in many activities they enjoyed prior to their illness. Hospice services are provided wherever the patient may reside; at home, in a skilled nursing facility, or residential care facility.
Focus on comfort, not prolonging life, when life expectancy limited Support for families and caregivers Provided by team of doctors, nurses, home health aides, social workers, counselors, and trained volunteers Provided wherever individual is–at home, in a hospice residence, nursing home, foster home, hospital
