Funded By:
The main purpose of hospice care is to provide services that will enhance quality of life and provide support for the person and their family throughout a terminal illness and the bereavement period. Hospice programs provide care that treats the physical needs of the person as well as his/her emotional and spiritual needs. Hospice care can take place in a person's home or in a facility-based setting. The goal is to make the person as free of pain and as comfortable as possible so s/he can make the most of the time that remains. Quality of life is as important as the length of life. Hospice provides palliative care and supportive services to patients and their families twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week.
All hospice care is under professional medical supervision. Over 90% of hospice care is provided in the person's home. Hospice care is a benefit of the Medicare program and is also covered by Medicaid in many states. Many private insurance companies, HMOs, and managed care plans offer hospice care as a benefit. Hospice care is a choice for people who want to spend their last days at home among the people and things they love.
The
National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization
This site provides information on how to select a Hospice program,
the things you should consider before choosing one, and different
payment methods. You can read and/or download Consumer Brochures
for free such as "Hospice Care: A consumer's Guide to Selecting
a Hospice Program," "Communicating Your End-of-Life Wishes," and
"Hospice Care and the Medicare Hospice Benefit." There is also a
Hospice locator where you can find a program by name, state, city,
or county.
http://www.nhpco.org
Hospice
Net
Information is provided on services and bereavement for patients
and caregivers. Services include finding a local hospice, frequently
asked questions, the Hospice concept, the Hospice team, and questions
you should ask about Hospice care. Information for people with a
terminal illness includes pain control: dispelling the myths, helping
yourself live while you are dying, advance directives, how to relieve
pain without medicine, Medicare Hospice benefits, talking to children
about death, choosing how to end, a dying person's guide to dying,
palliative care, and prescription pain relievers and non-prescription
pain relievers.
Information for caregivers includes how to be a supportive caregiver,
helping a friend who is dying, hard choices for loving people, family
and Medical Leave Act, preparing for approaching death, hiring in-home
health, saying good-by, and more. Information on bereavement includes
a guide to grief, spiritual readings, children and grief, helping
teenagers cope with grief, knowledge of the grief process, ideas
for writing, what we need during grief, poetry, helping ourselves
through the holidays, healing after a loss, and more.
http://www.hospicenet.org
Paying
for Hospice Care
This web site provides information on Medicaid and Medicare financing.
http://research.aarp.org/health/fs81_hospice.html
Sutter
VNA and Hospice
This web site is sponsored by Sutter VNA & Hospice which is one
of the largest non-profit home care and hospice agencies in Northern
California. Sutter VNA & Hospice's programs and services respond
to the physical, mental, social, and emotional needs of people with
terminal illness and their families, enabling people to be cared
for with comfort and dignity in their own homes. This site contains
general information about their services, programs, and locations.
http://vnahnc.org
