Hospice FAQs

A special kind of care that helps people live with dignity, comfort and peace at the end-of-life.

• Provides compassionate care for people with a terminal illness until death occurs
• Focuses on relieving symptoms and increasing comfort of the person who is dying
• Assists family and loved ones as well as the patient
• Assures that wishes for end-of-life care are honored

• Its focus on preventing, treating or eliminating discomfort and pain
• A team of professionals trained in end-of-life care
• Supporting physical, emotional, spiritual and practical needs of all those caring for loved ones at end-of-life

• Hospice is NOT a place
• Hospice is wherever you are
• Hospice care is provided in private homes, nursing homes, hospitals, comfort care homes and many other places people call “home”

• Physician
• Registered Nurse
• Home Health Aide
• Social Worker
• Chaplain
• Grief and Bereavement Counselor
• Volunteers

Hospice serves patients – and their families – in their last months of life. Patients who have less than six months to live as determined by their physician and a hospice medical director.

• Medicare
• Medicaid
• Most private insurance companies
• If you or your loved one does not have insurance, some hospices can provide care at little or no cost

• Doctor visits/services
• Nursing care
• Medical equipment, supplies and drugs for symptom control and pain relief
• Home health aide assistance
• Social work services
• Volunteer support
• Grief and bereavement support to help you and your family
• Physical, speech, and/or occupational therapy, if appropriate
• Short-term care for symptom management in the hospital or inpatient hospice unit

• You or a loved one can call a hospice care program or agency that offers this type of care to learn more about starting the process
• Your physician calls a hospice care program or agency that offers this type of care and makes a referral for service
• Your physician signs a certificate of terminal illness
• A hospice nurse or social worker meets with you and/or your family members and explains the benefits of hospice
• You or your medical care representative or proxy signs the Benefit Election Form and service begins

• Hospice neither hastens nor postpones dying
• Some patients live longer with hospice care than they would if they continued aggressive treatment that was not working
• The Hospice Care team provides its presence and specialized knowledge during the last phase of life

• At home
• In a nursing home
• In a hospital
• In a special hospice unit or center
• Comfort care homes

• A medical specialty focused on relief of pain and other debilitating symptoms of serious illnesses
• Is not dependent on a prognosis
• Can be delivered at the same time as the treatment meant to cure you

Learn more about Palliative Care.