Hospice care is a support system for terminally ill people and their loved ones, whereby care and comfort is provided to ease the pain and stress of the illness and loss of life. The group of people that are involved in this process usually include a primary care doctor, nurses, home health aides, spiritual counselors, social workers, pharmacists, trained hospice volunteers, and bereavement counselors. The primary care physician and attendant nurses will coordinate all aspects of the patient's care. Home health aides help patients with personal care and daily maintenance.
Trained hospice volunteers are available to assist in many areas, from helping caregivers, to transporting patients when needed. Spiritual leaders and social workers counsel patients and loved ones to help them cope with the suffering and prepare them for the future. Bereavement counselors help family and friends deal with the loss of their loved one and moving forward with their lives.There is no set time or precise method to predict exactly when a patient with a terminal illness will pass away, but doctors can estimate timeframes in certain cases. For example, some types of cancer discovered in the beginning stage can be treated aggressively and cured, but in other cases, the disease progresses to a point where it's not curable, and a doctor will determine an approximate amount of time, or life, the patient has left.Hospice is very beneficial to patients and their loved ones, and should be accessed as soon as possible, as it improves patients' quality of life and is a tremendous resource for them, as well as family and friends. Respite care, which is when the patient receives full time care in a facility for a period of time, is one of the most helpful advantages of hospice. It gives the patient's caregivers a break, as caring for someone with a terminal illness is very stressful and taxing. Hospice care is usually done at home, but facilities like hospitals and nursing homes provide the service as well.
