HC Caregiver 2016-digital.pdf

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CARE?
WHAT IS
Consider the following difficult questions:
• What makes your life worth living? When
would it not be worth living?
• What do you value most about your physical
and mental wellbeing?
• How do you define quality of life?
• What gives your life purpose, meaning, pleasure?
(Source: ABA Consumer’s Toolkit for Health Care Advance Planning)
Hospice is for patients with a life-limiting illness but not necessarily dying
tomorrow. Hospice is provided to those who have been determined to have a
life expectancy of six months or less. However, studies have found that patients
who receive hospice services live on average 29 days longer than those who are
not on hospice care.
Hospice does not hasten death. Hospice is not a form of euthanasia or
physician-assisted suicide. Hospice provides care and medication to manage
the symptoms of a life-limiting illness so that patients are more comfortable,
able to function at their best, and able to get needed rest.
Hospice is about hope and care for patients even when there is no cure. FThe
hospice team of professionals provides comfort, safety, and security; the trust
that one’s wishes will be honored; and the relief in knowing that one’s family
is not alone. The hospice team addresses the physical, emotional, and spiritual
needs of the patient and family.
Hospice is not only for those with a terminal diagnosis of cancer. Hospice
cares for patients at the end stage of many illnesses including Alzheimer’s
Disease, Parkinson’s Disease, congestive heart failure, lung disease, kidney
disease, and ALS.
Most hospice patients are cared for wherever the patients calls home —
their own home, a family home, assisted living or nursing home. Inpatient
hospice care may be available for those with symptoms that cannot be managed
adequately at home.
Hospice cares for the entire network of family and caregivers. Through
education, counseling, and referrals to community resources, the hospice team
helps caregivers develop confidence, gain knowledge, address feelings of loss
and grief, and prepare for life after their loved one dies. Hospice provides
bereavement services for a year after death.
Hospice care is indicated when
life-sustaining treatments no
longer offer recovery or the return
to a desired quality of life. Here
are some facts about hospice care:
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