Anytime is a good time to talk about hospice.
For us we celebrate hospice for 12 months out of the year but each November we work to promote Hospice Care even more and raise awareness about this amazing service that is available to our community. We understand the importance of this compassionate service and the benefits that it offers not only to the patient but for the family as well. When medical care can no longer offer a cure, hospice care provides care, comfort, compassion and support for those with life-limiting illness as well as their families. Our team works to make the patient as comfortable as possible by reliving symptoms and pain for the length of their illness.
A common myth is that hospice comes when someone only has days left to live; which has made it a sore subject for many. This statement is incredibly incorrect. Hospice provides support and a better quality of life to those who elect to receive hospice care as soon as they qualify. To qualify, a physician must state that death can be expected within 6 months if the disease follows its normal course.
As we all know, no one really knows how much time any of us have left on this earth. Recent studies have shown that those who choose hospice sooner live longer partly because hospice care focuses on the wellbeing of the whole patient—physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual. Earlier admission to hospice means that the patient can experience more quality time with loved ones. There is also a greater opportunity to contemplate what matters most in life since the patient is kept comfortable and experiences less stress and anxiety during the final months of life.
In fact hospice patients who are admitted early enough in the course of illness have been shown to live 29 days longer than others and as already shown, those extra days are spent in comfort with greater quality of life. When the hospice staff has the opportunity to care for a patient over the course of several months they have time to provide individualized management of pain and other symptoms. Because the staff gets to know the patient’s particular needs quite well, medications can be evaluated and adjusted over time so that the patient experiences as much relief and comfort as possible.
We are available to talk and answer any questions you may have about hospice care and what it offers. There are so many more benefits to hospice care and we urge you to have these discussions with your family now, because anytime is a good time to talk about hospice.
www.pikecountyhospice.com 573-324-2111