Hospice or Home Care: When Is It Time?

By Melanie Fleury Last updated Aug 23, 2013 14

Making the decision to utilize hospice care can be difficult because it requires you to recognize that your loved one’s odds of recovering from a major illness are practically zero. However, it is important to help the people we care about have the best quality of life for as long as possible, and hospice care makes it much easier to provide this. Therefore, whether you opt to hire a home care agency or move the individual into a hospice, you should definitely take steps to help them feel comfortable for the rest of their life.

How do I know it is Time for Hospice Care?There are several indicators that will help you decide that hospice care is your best bet. You should also discuss the situation with the individual’s primary care physician to make sure that you do not pull them out of a treatment program prematurely.

Four Signs that Hospice Care is the Right Choice

1. They Stop Responding to Treatment – Being diagnosed with a terminal illness such as cancer will require a lot of medical care. However, if the illness is not curable, there will most likely come a point when everyone needs to recognize that treatment is not going to keep extending the patient’s life. When this point comes, it is better to let the individual have the more peaceful living experience that accompanies hospice care.

2. The Family can no Longer Take Care of their Needs – As a terminal illness progresses, it will become increasingly difficult for the family to provide the proper level of palliative care. Once this happens, it is in everyone’s best interests for the ill family member to be placed in hospice care so that they are able to relax in an environment that is not causing other people so much stress.

3. They No Longer Desire Treatment – In some cases, an individual who is terminally ill will decide that they no longer want to go through an invasive treatment program, even if it is helping them slightly extend their life. When this decision is made, it will be vital for the patient to have a safe and comfortable place to live out the rest of their life, and hospice care can easily fill this role.

4. When Everyone Needs Help Coping – Although hospice care exists with the purpose of helping people have a good environment for the end of their life, it is also important for the entire family to receive assistance coping with their upcoming loss. Fortunately, most hospice care facilities and home care providers offer programs that will help everyone deal with the situation, and this will make it easier for family members to offer much-needed support to their loved one.

Choosing to get hospice care for someone who is not going to recover from an illness is a good way to show them that you care. After all, having the knowledge that you are going to die is very scary for most people, but professional hospice care providers can help the patient deal with their physical and emotional needs throughout the process.

Melanie Fleury’s grandmother was under the supervision of a home care agency for nearly a year. Melanie found that having an agency take care of her grandmother relieved the stress of providing care on her own, but still allowed her grandmother to be in a comfortable setting. 1800homecare.com can help to connect you with a home care provider in your area.