Hospice Care

What Is Hospice Care?

Hospice care is designed to provide support to both you and your loved ones during an advanced illness.

Facing a life-limiting illness is an extremely difficult topic to discuss, but at Caring Edge, we’re here to help. Our hospice team is hoping to help reduce the stigma when it comes to end-of-life care. We focus on comfort rather than a cure as well as living pain-free with dignity. CaringEdge hospice services are delivered in your home, whether that’s a private residence or your apartment at one of our Edgewood communities.

Hospice Mission

CaringEdge Hospice & Palliative Care is dedicated to promoting quality of life by addressing the medical, emotional, and spiritual needs of our patients and their families. We understand that each patient and family is unique. We are guided by the belief that providing the highest quality of patient care with dignity, compassion, and respect for each person is the most important activity of the organization. We feel that we should help every patient facing end of life decisions to be free of pain and in a safe, compassionate environment. These choices allow patients to spend their final days with dignity and comfort and surrounded by their loved ones.

Benefits of Hospice Care

Hospice services are a team approach integrating medical, emotional, spiritual, and social services. This team approach offers support to patients and their families when a disease or illness has resisted curative treatment. Every patient has a tailored care plan specific to their unique needs and wishes.
Click Here To Contact Us About Hospice Care
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Medical Director

  • Our physician will direct and approve the care plan, including pain and symptom management. 
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Skilled Nursing

  • Provides pain and symptom management as well as nursing care. Nurses are available 24/7. 
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Social Worker

  • Provides emotional support, counseling, and if there are financial needs, helps the family access community services. 
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Hospice Aide

  • Assists with patient-focused care and companionship.
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Chaplain

  • Offers spiritual support and assistance with memorial and funeral arrangements. 
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Volunteer

  • Assists with non-medical services such as running errands, light housekeeping, and companionship.
Your CaringEdge Hospice Team Includes:

10 Common Myths About Hospice Care

1. Hospice is giving up

 

 

It’s true that hospice care does not include curative treatment, or in other words, the patient is no longer being treated to cure his or her illness. However, this does not mean someone is giving up. Instead, hospice services are designed to provide comfort and improve quality of life for the patient and his or her family and friends during their remaining time together. The quality of care received while on hospice is just as high as being in any hospital or care facility; the focus of the care is just different.

2. Hospice is a place

 

 

Although there are medical facilities that provide hospice care exclusively, hospice is a philosophy of care it’s not the physical structure or place. Hospice services can be received wherever the patient and his or her loved ones prefer, including at home, in an Edgewood senior living community or in-patient.

3. Hospice is only for cancer patients

 

 

Hospice is available for any patient coping with a life-limiting condition that his or her hospice and primary doctors have certified is a terminal illness.

4. An immense amount of pain is just a part of dying

 

 

While pain is often a part of dying, hospice care professionals specialize in recognizing and managing pain at the end-of-life. Hospice doctors, nurses and other professionals are there to adjust care accordingly to help ensure comfort.

5. People pass away faster on hospice

 

 

Obviously, many hospice patients pass away while receiving hospice care. However, the truth is hospice care does not speed up death. In fact, those who choose to receive hospice care may actually live longer than those who choose not to.

6. You can only receive hospice care for a few weeks at the end of life.

 

 

Hospice care can begin as soon as someone’s hospice and primary doctors certify he or she is terminally ill (expected to live 6 months or less). Hospice services are based on a 6-month time line, but when someone lives longer hospice care services can absolutely be extended.

7. Hospice care is only for the dying person.

 

 

Hospice care is a comprehensive set of services that not only offers physical care and support to the patient but also spiritual and emotional support for the patient and his or her loved ones. Even after he or she passes, hospice services follow the family for a full 13 months.

8. Hospice means you no longer have a say in your care.

 

 

Hospice care is the exact opposite of this myth! It’s patientfocused and designed to meet the wants and needs of each individual.

9. Hospice is simply receiving pain medication

 

There are countless myths about hospice care and pain medications: hospice is only useful for administering pain medication or hospice patients are sedated so much that they sleep all the time or hospice requires that you give up all medication. None of these are quite accurate. Hospice care focuses on the wellbeing of the whole patient, including spiritual, emotional and physical care designed to make each individual as comfortable as possible. This means that some patients may choose to give up medications, some may choose to receive medications for pain management and still others may choose to increase their medication to feel less pain. The bottom line is each individual works with his or her hospice care team to make that choice

10. Hospice patients must sign a Do Not Resuscitate (DNR) order.

 

A signed DNR is not required to receive hospice care.

Contact us today for more information about Hospice and Palliative Care.

Call us at 877.651.5839

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