Hospice Care for a Child
What is hospice care?
Hospice tries to improve the quality of life of a terminally ill child and their family.
It's a type of palliative care. This is care to make a person as comfortable as possible.
It's also to prevent and ease suffering. Hospice settings and home-hospice care provide
many services to terminally ill children. Care usually involves easing symptoms and
providing mental and social support for the child and family. To qualify for hospice
care, a child often has less than 6 months to live. The decision to choose hospice
care is one to not choose aggressive treatment. Hospice also provides for the spiritual
and cultural needs of the child and family. The goal of hospice care is to provide
the terminally ill child peace, comfort, and dignity.
Research has shown that hospice care at home helps a family as a whole. While being
in the comfort of the home, family can also take a role in the extra care of the patient.
Hospice often includes a team of several people available for care. This team includes:
-
Nurses
-
Social workers
-
Chaplains
-
Home care aids
-
Trained volunteers
-
Pharmacists
-
Grief counselors
Settings for hospice care
Most patients have hospice care at home, but it can also take place in other settings.
These include:
-
Hospital-based hospice. Most hospitals have a hospice program to give terminally ill patients access to support
services and other healthcare providers. Some hospitals even have a special hospice
unit.
-
Long-term care hospice. Many long-term care homes have hospice units with specially trained staff for those
patients who need medical services not fit for a home setting.
-
Freestanding hospice. This is an independent hospice. It may include an inpatient care facility, plus home
care hospice services. The inpatient facilities offer patients hospice services if
they need medical services not fit for a home setting.
What services does hospice care provide?
Hospice services are like home healthcare services, but may also include: