Benefits of Hospice

There are many benefits to choosing hospice care, both for our patients and their loved ones.

Hospice Respects Individual Goals and Priorities

People have priorities and goals aside from living longer. Consider this: if your time is limited, what is most important to you? The goal of the hospice team is to support the wishes of the patient. Choosing hospice can also mean avoiding unwanted hospitalizations, medical treatments and procedures. Hospice care may not help people live longer; rather it can help people live better.

Hospice Offers a Familiar Environment

When you don’t feel well, you want to be at home. No matter where you reside, the hospice team comes to you; hospice is provided in nursing homes, assisted living facilities, group homes, apartments and private residences—wherever you call “home.”

Hospice Includes a Team of Specialists

CHI St. Joseph’s Health Hospice Care team of experts will help you feel better. Hospice care offers a thorough approach to comfort with specially trained professionals who address not just an individual’s disease, but the individual as a whole person. The hospice team provides medical, personal, emotional and spiritual care and comfort, as well as grief support.

Our team is trained to help navigate and support you through the journey. When physical, emotional and spiritual concerns are addressed, patients and their loved ones can spend the precious time that remains concentrating on the things that matter most to them.

Hospice is Available 24 Hours a Day

With hospice care, help is just a phone call away. Hospice care helps ease anxiety with on-call, 24-hour support, even on weekends and holidays. As one’s symptoms and illness changes, hospice adapts and responds to provide different levels of care. Every person’s disease process is different, and hospice is prepared to care for your loved one no matter his/her level of need.

Hospice Care Maintains and Promotes Dignity

Hospice care offers a chance for people to live as normally as possible with dignity until the end. Hospice patients aren’t hooked up to loud machines, are not poked or prodded hourly by medical personnel and do not endure invasive procedures. Hospice care neither hastens death nor prolongs life; rather, hospice celebrates life and allows an individual to live well until a natural end.

Hospice Lessens the Financial Burden

Cost is not a barrier to comfort. Medicare, Medicaid and most private insurance plans cover the cost of medications for the terminal diagnosis and related conditions, and durable medical equipment and supplies. This usually results in a reduction in out-of-pocket expenses. Additionally, families no longer experience unexpected trips to the emergency room, hospital stays, ambulance rides or frequent visits to the clinic, which can result in significant expenses. 

Hospice Supports Family and Caregivers

As a caregiver, you want to do the best you can for your loved one. Hospice can help you. Hospice relieves family members’ concerns by educating them on what to expect and how to care for their loved one. Hospice teaches caregiving techniques and empowers loved ones to be the best caregivers they can be. As an individual’s health declines and needs increase, the hospice team helps monitor these changes and provides the necessary care. Hospice professionals offer guidance and support to help families deal with the range of emotions that surround this difficult time. After the death of a loved one, Hospice provides grief support and can help with some of the tasks that may need to be completed after someone has passed away.

Our patients and their family members often tell us, “We had no idea how much hospice could do.” Contact us to learn how we can help you by calling 218-732-4552.