Patient Care - Hospice

Carol Bluestein - 2nd Opinion - Return

Caring for a Loved One
Hard Lessons Learned • Wonderful Memories Earned
Hospice

Introduction

General

Hospice is a wonderful program which is underused either through denial - the patient/your parent is NOT dying or nobody wants to face "the end" which is equivalent to the word "Hospice."

Do not wait. Hospice support is wonderful. Once your parent/patient decides they no longer want to go to the doctors or has been diagnosed as terminal, Hospice is just the program you want. However, just like anything else, you are the advocate for your partent/patient. Make sure the support maintains your parent/patient's dignity and makes your parent/patient most comfortable. If there are personality issues, ask for a change in personnel. It is all part of the process.

Hospice services include:

Nursing coverage - monitoring vital signs, medications, necessary aids, equipments and medical supplies -- all free of charge.
- It was wonderful to have someone to call (Day or Night) when Mom's health changed.
- If she needed oxygen, they provided oxygen. If she needed a hospital bed at home, they provided the hospital bed.
Social Worker - to help with any issues for either the patient or the family
- My mother would not talk to her social worker. She said there was nothing to talk about.
- I, on the other hand, benefitted greatly from her visits. We talked about my take on care, my frustrations and my needs. She was someone who listened to me, non-judgementally, and gave me the opportunity to vent.
Volunteers - who came and visited with Mom. One was a pastor and the other a friend who would talk with Mom about her travels and family.
Aides - who came for 1.5 hours a week and gave me some time to myself.
Hospitalization - if my mother had to be hospitalized, she went immediately to a special section for Hospice patients, guaranteeing she would be only be treated for the immediate problem - no wait, no unnecessary tests.

Below is from the Hospice website and gives an itemized list of palliative care initiatives.

http://www.hospicecare.com/Organisation/Org.htm#Definition
Palliative Care is an approach that improves the quality of life of patients and their families facing the problem associated with life-threatening illness, through the prevention and relief of suffering by means of early identification and impeccable assessment and treatment of pain and other problems, physical, psychosocial and spiritual.
Palliative Care:
- Provides relief from pain and other distressing symptoms;
- Affirms life and regards dying as a normal process;
- Intends neither hasten nor postpone death;
- Integrates the psychological and spiritual aspects of patient care;
- Offers a support system to help patients live as actively as possible until death;
- Offers a support system to help the family cope during the patient’s illness and in their own bereavement;
- Uses a team approach to address the needs of patients and their families, including bereavement counseling, if indicated;
- Will enhance quality of life, and may also positively influence the course of illness;
- Is applicable early in the course of illness, in conjunction with other therapies that are intended to prolong life, such as chemotherapy or radiation therapy, and includes those investigations needed to better understand and manage distressing clinical complications.
Source: National Cancer Control Programmes: Policies and Managerial Guidelines, 2nd Ed. Geneva: WHO, 2002