Hospice is end of life care for terminally ill clients and their families. Hospice takes a holistic approach to the client’s care, evaluating their physical, mental, and spiritual needs. It has the goal of providing comfort and peace to both the client and their loved ones during a very difficult time. Hospice is a service that is provided for those who have been diagnosed with a terminal illness, are expected to live less than six months, and have chosen to focus on comfort rather than a cure.
Many services are available for our hospice clients including all of the following:
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Our nurses are specially trained to provide comfort-oriented care. Our Medical Director and team of nurses will collaborate to create a plan of care and medication regimen to make you or your loved one as comfortable as possible during this difficult time. Many of the services provided by the nursing team include:
- Pain and symptom management
- Educates families on the client’s condition and specific disease process so they know how to provide care also.
- Care coordinator and liaison for family and physicians.
Hospice Aides provide many different personal care services including the following:
- Bathing
- Shaving
- Nail Care
- Meal Preparation
- Assistance with Toileting
- Light Housekeeping
Social services play a vital role in hospice care. Our social workers act as your advocate to ensure that you or your loved one are receiving all of the care you’re entitled to from both the community and our agency. Social workers also help clients and their families adapt to the new situation and cope with the end of a life.
We have a staff of trained volunteers who provide a number of different benefits for clients and their families. If you’d like our volunteers to take care of something not listed below, feel free to contact us. Chances are it’s something we can do.
- Listening and conversation
- Shopping
- Non-emergency Transportation
- Reading
- Respite care
- Genealogy
We have a hospice chaplain on staff who is a trained spiritual counselor and is available to provide spiritual care and counseling to our clients. They are available to help clients resolve “unfinished business”, help explore what death means for each individual, and perform spiritual rituals.
These therapies are available to assist hospice patients with finding new ways to complete tasks that may have become too difficult because of health complications.
Respite care gives the primary caregiver (usually a family member) a break from the constant responsibility to watch over the hospice client. During respite care we monitor the patient much more frequently than normal so that the caregiver can relax and get rejuvenated.
Bereavement is the time we all experience after a loss. Even after the hospice client has passed on, our hospice care team will continue to work with family members to help them with grieving. A volunteer or social worker may continue to work with the family and we will continue to reach out to families for at least a year after the passing of an individual.