When do we use hospice care?

The Dying: Hospice palliative care becomes appropriate when patients and their families decide to forego curative therapies in order to concentrate on maximizing comfort and quality of life, when curative treatments are no longer beneficial, when the burdens of these treatments outweigh the benefits, or when patients are entering the final weeks to months of life.

Sooner : Although hospice care is defined by medicare for any patient with a prognosis of 6 months or less, we often times don't see people come to hospice until they have hours to days. Many physicians think that hospice is only when the patient is "dying, " however the hospice team can provide better care by getting to the know the patient and family over several months rather than hours.

Hospice: Hospice is palliative care for patients who are not expected to live longer than six months. You would use hospice for care for the expertise of the clinical team that surrounds you and your family through that phase of your life.

End of life care.: Hospice is meant for those who seemingly at the end of life, although that end can still be many months away. The emphasis of hospice care is not trying to save the life, but to give comfort to the individual as their death approaches. We use hospice services when the end of life is drawing near and we want to focus on things like pain relief.