Receiving Hospice Care

Hospice is a comprehensive program with services for people who are seriously ill and not expected to recover. When you decide to be cared for by a hospice program, you acknowledge that your treatment goals will shift from doing everything possible to cure your condition to helping make the rest of your life as comfortable and high-quality as possible.

You do not need to be bedridden or in a hospital to benefit from hospice care. No matter what your physical condition, hospice services focus on keeping you as comfortable, functional, and alert as possible. If needed, these services may include help with bathing, dressing, and eating as well as medicine and treatment for all symptoms, including pain and anxiety.

Hospice teams, which consist of medical professionals, counselors, therapists, social workers, spiritual advisors, home health aides, and trained volunteers, are available to address your ongoing concerns and needs. Your team can:

• Assist with advance directive forms. This may include documenting your preferences regarding life support and cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR).
• Answer questions about palliative treatments, which are designed to relieve pain and other symptoms.
• Help you determine what is important in terms of putting your legal and financial affairs in order.
• Help you and your family communicate and deal with unresolved issues.
• Give your caregivers a break (respite care). Trained volunteers may be available to relieve your loved ones for a few hours a week. If your caregivers need a longer break or must be away to attend a special event, some hospices provide respite care for several days.

Counseling and support services that hospice provides can help you:

• Resolve differences with family and friends or say important things that may otherwise go unsaid.
• Complete relationships.
• Review your life.
• Explore spiritual issues.

Hospice care also includes helping your family and friends through their grief after you die. Most programs continue to provide bereavement services for family and friends, such as support groups and counseling, for at least a year after a loved one's death.