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What is Hospice?
Hospice is widely recognized as the model for quality, compassionate care for
people facing a life limiting illness or injury. Hospice & Palliative Care involve a
team oriented approach to expert medical care, pain management, emotional
and spiritual support expressly tailored to the person’s needs and wishes.
Support is provided to the person’s loved ones as well.
A common misconception people have is that Hospice means you’re “giving up”
or that there is nothing left for the doctor to do and that’s absolutely wrong.
Hospice is not about giving up, but it is about enhancing the quality of life
no matter how long that may be.
Who can receive Hospice care?
Any person facing the advancing stages of any life limiting illness
may receive Hospice services if the following conditions are met:
• Aggressive treatments are not working or providing relief to the patient
• The patient or their legal representative elects to receive Hospice care
• The patient, family and physician agree and understand that the focus of
care is on comfort, pain control, symptom management, emotional and
spiritual support, not on cure
• The physician thinks that the patient will live six months or less if the
disease runs its normal course.
Why Choose Hospice?
Hospice cares for the entire family, not just the terminally ill family member.
Hospice focuses on enhancing the quality of life no matter how long that
might be. Through services such as symptom relief for the patient and emotional,
spiritual and practical support, patients and their families can prepare for death
in ways that are meaningful to them. Hospice provides dignity in dying for
patients and their loved ones.
What Services Does LightBridge Hospice Provide?
Hospice care includes a wide variety of services to relieve the patient and
family of many of the burdens associated with a terminal illness.
Hospice patients are cared for by a team of doctors, nurses, social workers,
certified Hospice aides, clergy and volunteers. Together, they form the
interdisciplinary team, which develops a detailed plan of care for each
Hospice patient based on the specific needs and desires of each
patient
and family.
The Plan of Care, which is coordinated by the Registered Nurse assigned
to the patient and overseen by the patient's physician, specifies the services
to be provided,
which
team members will provide those services, how often
they will visit and the goals for the care they provide. In addition, LightBridge
provides medications, supplies and equipment related to the Hospice diagnosis.
A registered nurse is on call 24 hours per day, seven days a week to assist
with any needs a patient may have.
Does Hospice do anything to make death come sooner?
No. The goal of Hospice is to help patients live every day to its fullest with
the greatest level of physical, emotional and spiritual comfort possible.
LightBridge recognizes dying as a natural process. Hospice
does not work
to hasten death, but enhances the quality of life that remains
and
provides
support to caregivers.
Is Hospice care only for cancer patients?
Hospice is a program that had originally been associated with the terminally
ill cancer patient. Current practice makes it available for any terminally ill
person in the end stages of cancer, Parkinson's, Alzheimer's, heart disease,
or other life limiting diseases or conditions. While the majority of patients
are older, the program is available to anyone - regardless of age, sex, religion
or disease - who has been diagnosed by a physician as having a life expectancy
of six months or less. The care that is provided is not meant to cure the person.
It is palliative, which is care aimed at relieving or reducing discomfort.
Where is Hospice care provided?
Hospice is a philosophy of care, not a place. Hospice care can be provided
wherever a patient lives including:
• Personal Homes
• Residential Care Facilities
• Assisted Living Facilities
• Long Term Care Facilities
How is Hospice different from other types of home health?
In Hospice, all members of the care team - physicians, nurses, social workers,
spiritual care coordinators, nursing
assistants and volunteers - work together
to coordinate and deliver care.
Hospice care focuses on the entire family. The Hospice team supports the
family in caring for their loved one and provides spiritual and psychological
support to both the patient and their family members.
For most home health care providers, the goal is to make the patient well.
With Hospice care, the staff and family recognize that the patient will not
get well if the disease process follows its normal course. The focus is on
comfort and support rather than cure.
Hospice care does not end when a patient dies. Hospice staff maintain
contact with the family for one year after the death of a patient to help
them deal with their loss.
How does Hospice address pain management?
The LightBridge team assesses and treats not only the patient's physical
pain but they also address the emotional and spiritual pain of the
patient, family and caregivers.
The goal of our pain management program is to continually maintain
a balance between the alleviation of pain and a patient's functional
level so that the patient can continue to optimally interact with loved ones.
Hospice nurses and doctors are specially trained in the use of a variety
of pain medications and other techniques for pain and symptom relief.
Spiritual and psychological pain is experienced by both
patients and
loved ones. This is addressed by the entire team, with particular emphasis
on the assessment and support provided by our spiritual care coordinators
and social workers.
What is the role of the patient's physician in Hospice care?
The patient's physician may remain responsible for their care and work
in collaboration with the LightBridge nurses and team members serving
the patient. In addition, the Hospice Medical Director is always available
for consultation on pain management or other specific care issues.
Who can refer a patient to LightBridge Hospice?
Anyone can refer a patient to LightBridge. Many referrals originate
with the patient's physician or with the staff of the facility where
the patient lives. Others come from hospital discharge planners, social
workers or patient's families. To be admitted, a patient must agree
to treatment aimed at comfort rather than cure and have an advancing
disease process which results in a limited life expectancy as certified
by
his or her physician and the Hospice physician.
When is the right time to consider Hospice?
At any time during a life limiting illness it is important to consider all
care options, including Hospice. Hospice becomes an appropriate
choice when curative treatments are no longer effective and the
patient and physician believe that comfort care is the right choice.
It is helpful to remember that Hospice professionals agree they can
be more effective when given optimal time to guide patients and
their families through the challenging maze of concerns. The sooner
the Hospice team is in place, the more time patients and families
are afforded to focus on the quality of their relationships and
living life to its fullest.
What if the patient gets better?
With the increased care and support provided by the Hospice team,
a patient's condition may significantly improve. If the patient's
condition improves and stabilizes they may be discharged from
Hospice. If the patient should need to return to Hospice care at
some point in the future, LightBridge can assist with readmission.
Who pays for the cost of care provided by LightBridge?
Hospice care is covered by Medicare, Medi-Cal and most private
insurance companies. LightBridge can assist you in determining
what specific benefits are available from your insurance carrier or HMO.
Does Hospice care end when the patient dies?
No. The Hospice team provides continuing support and bereavement
services to families for the year following thier loved ones death.
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