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Home  Senior Living The Blessing of Hospice
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The Blessing of Hospice |
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Wednesday, 01 November 2006 |
November—National Hospice Month & National Family Caregivers Month
Hospice offers physical, emotional and spiritual care to people with a life-limiting illness and their families. There are no out-of-pocket expenses for eligible Medicare and Medicaid patients; unfortunately, only about one in three eligible patients take advantage of hospice. Most families who experience the benefits of hospice care say they wish they’d known about it sooner.
Over 80% of all Americans facing a terminal illness would prefer to
remain at home. Hospice allows this to happen by making house calls.
The vast majority of hospice care is provided in the patient’s home or
other residence.
Hospice focuses on more than just the terminal illness—the hospice team
addresses the patient’s physical, spiritual and emotional needs.
Spiritual care coordinators help guide patients and their families
through this life transition. They’re also an important part of the
bereavement process and work with families for 13 months following
their loss.
Hospice volunteers come from all walks of life and for all kinds of
reasons. Some have experienced hospice care first-hand in their family
and want to give something back. Others are answering a calling to
reach out to those in need. But all of them bring comfort and support
to patients and families in many ways—most notably by listening,
sharing and offering support. These volunteers aren’t paid in money,
but find their work very enriching.
More than 26 million Americans today are dedicating over 18 hours each
week to care for terminally ill loved ones. They juggle these
responsibilities along with jobs and the demands of other family
members, including their own children. This reversal of roles is
becoming more prevalent as baby boomers age and find themselves caring
for aging parents—often without outside help.
While hospice is terribly underutilized across the country, no one
sector of the community is more underserved than minority populations
such as African-Americans and Hispanics. Many believe they can’t afford
this kind of care, even though, in many cases, insurance provides 100%
cost coverage. Others fear the loss of control or the need to abandon
hope. Still others believe that hospice care isn’t available to
minorities—this is absolutely untrue.
Fewer than 25% of all Americans inform their family and physician of
their wishes should they face a life-limiting illness. VistaCare–along
with NHPCO and WebMD—recently launched a free, online course entitled
Planning Ahead: Understanding Your Health Choices before a Crisis.
Register at www.vistacare.com/planningahead.
For more information on the benefits of hospice, as well as volunteer
opportunities, visit the VistaCare website at http://www.vistacare.com. VistaCare’s Newnan
location is 1585 Highway 34 East. Call them at 770-251-1367
(800-324-8145).
All Statistics provided by the National Hospice Foundation (2003)
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