Sometimes patients and families are challenged by the decision to stick with home health services or choose hospice care. It’s a hard decision filled with emotion and scary consequences.
It’s not just a choice about what agency will provide the care. It feels like a choice about living vs dying. A choice about hope. Let’s talk about details that can help you make your decision. What are the differences between home health services and hospice care?
Home Health
Goals: strengthening, improved functioning, healing
Medical necessity required
Patient must be homebound (some outings allowed)
Patient must be able/willing to participate in therapies/treats, and make progress
Hospice
Goals: comfort, quality of life
Life expectancy of 6 months or less required (Certification of Terminal Illness)
No homebound requirement
Interdisciplinary team (IDT) provides care, education, and support
Bereavement care provided following patient’s death
The decision to continue home health or start hospice care can feel overwhelming. Often the choice is made when you’re tired, sick, scared, or grieving. Sometime healthcare providers are unclear on the details or they don’t take time to provide all the information you need to make a decision you’re comfortable with.
The Heart of Hospice, LLC
It’s important to be an advocate, either for yourself or your loved one. Ask questions and get the information you need. Know what the rights of patients and their representatives are. Educate yourself. (Informed consumers get better care.) And isn’t the goal getting the best care that’s the right fit for you?
No matter who you are, or where you are in your hospice journey, you are The Heart of Hospice.