HOSPICE CARE

1. HOSPICE CARE
Unit- II

2. MEANING
Derived from the word “ Hospes”. Originally, referred
to shelter or way station for weary travelers.
Today, means a concept of care that provides comfort
and quality of life to clients (patients) and their
significant others who are facing life’s final journey
with terminal illness.
Atype of care/ a philosophy of care, which focuses on
palliation of terminally ill patient’s symptoms.- physical,
emotional, spiritual and social
Care may be provided in a person home, nursing home,
hospital, or independent facility devoted to end-of-life
care.

3. Primary goals of hospice care are to:
1. To provide comfort,
2. To relieve physical, emotional, and
spiritual suffering,
3. To promote the dignity of terminally
ill persons.

4. What services does hospice offer
For the Patient….
Providing care to the patient.
Medical care to relieve pain and other symptoms arising
from a life-limiting illness.
Basic needs of daily living.
Counseling.
Assisting the patient with unfinished legal or financial
business and in making funeral arrangements.
Religious care

5. For Caregivers/Family Members…
Counseling services
Respite care
Health Education
Practical assistance
Assistance with cremation/burial arrangements and with
funeral/memorial services
Bereavement care

6. Principles underlying hospice
1.Death must be accepted.
2.The patient’s total care is best managed by an interdisciplinary
team whose members communicate regularly with each other.
3.Pain and other symptoms of terminal illness must be
managed.
4.The patient and the family should be viewed as a single unit of
care.
5. Home care of the dying is necessary.
6. Bereavement care must be provided to family members.
7. Research and education should be ongoing.

7. Interdisciplinary hospice team
Members consist of-
1. Primary Physician
2. Hospice physician
3. Nurse
4. Home health aide
5. Social worker
6. Chaplain/ clergy

8. How hospice works?
In most cases hospice is provided in the patient’s own home. With
the support of hospice staff, family and loved ones are able to focus
more fully on enjoying the time remaining with the patient. Some times
can be provided onsite at hospitals, nursing homes, and other health
care facilities.
When hospice care is provided at home, a family member acts as
the primary caregiver, supervised by the patient’s doctor and hospice
medical staff. The hospice team makes regular visits to assess client
and provide additional care and services, such as speech and physical
therapy or to help with bathing and other personal care needs.

9.  As well as having staff on-call 24 hours a day, seven days a
week, a hospice team provides emotional and spiritual
support according to the wishes and beliefs of the patient.
They also offer emotional support to the patient’s family,
caregivers, and loved ones, including grief counseling.
 Additional RESPITE CARE
It is a brief & periodic level of care a patient may receive.
The basic purpose is to relieve family / care givers from burden
of taking care of the patient for some time.

10. Hospice V/S Home health nursing
Two primary differences between hospice care and
home health nursing are:
Any patient requiring a skilled medical care is qualified to
receive home health nursing care. Hospice care, on the
other hand, is limited to persons with a terminal illness,
with a life expectancy of six months or less, and with a
focus on palliation not cure.
Patients in home health care receive visits primarily from
a nurse while patients in hospice care receive the services
of an entire interdisciplinary team whose area of expertise
is end-of-life care.

11. PalliativeVs.Hospice
 Both focuses on improved qualify of life.
 Both are delivered by specialists.
 Both have been shown to improve survival.
 Both are provided regardless of diagnosis.
 Both are delivered by a team of individuals with
knowledge of complex symptom management.

12. • Hospice care is typically provided in the home, whereas
palliative can be hospital or clinic based.
• Hospice specifically cares for patients with terminal
conditions where survival is typically <6 months while
palliative care is delivered to all irrespective of
prognosis