For over 40 years, hospice care has provided millions of people with comfort care and dignity, allowing them to spend their final months wherever they call home, surrounded by their loved ones. However, hospice and palliative services remain vastly underutilized, leading to needless suffering that many patients experience as their disease advances and their quality-of-life declines. As a result, many still die alone or in pain.
November is National Hospice and Palliative Care Month, a time to raise awareness and recognize the importance and impact of Hospice and Palliative Care, as well as focusing on how these services offer a holistic approach to treatment that includes pain management, symptom control, and spiritual and emotional support. It is also a time to thank and honor the healthcare professionals and volunteers who dedicate themselves to serving our community.
What is Hospice Care?
Hospice Care is a type of care that focuses on the quality of life, comfort, and dignity of a person who has been diagnosed with a life-limiting illness, has a prognosis of six months or less to live and is choosing to forgo curative treatment. An interdisciplinary team of healthcare professionals and trained volunteers work together to manage pain, control symptoms, and care for emotional and spiritual needs. Hospice care ensure patients, and their loved ones receive support, respect, and dignity along the challenging journey of a life-limiting illness.
What Is Palliative Care?
Palliative Care is specialized medical care that focuses on providing patients with relief from pain, stress, and other symptoms they may be experiencing due to a serious illness such as cancer, COPD, stroke, or Parkinson’s Disease, regardless of prognosis. Palliative care aims to improve the quality of life for both patients and their families and can be provided together with curative treatment.
Assisted believes when deciding whether Hospice Care or Palliative Care suits your or your loved one’s needs, it’s important to know the definitions and the relationship between the two before making a choice. See chart below to view how Hospice and Palliative Care compare:
Meeting You Where You Are
Contrary to popular belief, hospice is not a place but a philosophy of care. Hospice care is provided anywhere a patient feels most at home. Often that’s in the patient’s residence or the home of a family member, but it could also be a hospital, nursing home, or an assisted living facility. Assisted understands that your home isn’t just a place, but a feeling. A feeling of comfort, joy, and familiarity. There for we are joining the NHPCO, in bringing awareness to Hospice and Palliative Care, as well as Meeting You Where You Are to ensure you feel at home wherever are.
Assisted Home Health and Hospice believes in the importance of quality compassionate care while also providing education, support, and guidance to you and your family during this special time in your life. If you or a loved one have been diagnosed with a severe or life-limiting illness and would like to know more about Hospice and Palliative Care, please visit us at www.AssistedCares.com or call 800-949-6555 to learn more about how we can help you through every step of your journey.
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