When to Call in Hospice - How to Know When It's Time

Hospice care is often seen as an option-one last resort to use when the patient can no longer benefit from traditional medical care. The fact is about twice as many older Americans are now ending their lives in hospital care as they did ten years ago-but hospice is still seen as a last resort. When put in earlier, it could do more good for patients. Hospice care is generally intended to help patients who know they are dying to control their pain, stay comfortable, and meet their social, emotional, and spiritual needs in an environment of support. However, studies show that Hospice is increasingly being used as a last resort option for patients who may not be appropriate to receive very aggressive hospital care during their final days-care. Hospice care may be a better option for many patients and families earlier in the recovery process-skipping off the prolonged intensive care that often happens at the end of life. Here are times when you need to consider yourself or a loved one's Home Hospice of Georgia. There are few other options, if your doctor says. Usually, when it's time for hospice care the doctor and the patient decide together. Assuming that the illness follows its natural course, hospice care is generally recommended when the patient has about six months to live. But for different patients the timing can be different. Yet hospice is designed primarily for end-of-life care. Hospice care should be provided when the doctor says that there is little else to do but before a health emergency places you in the hospital's critical care unit. Living at home no longer represents an option. If you or a loved one lived at home while managing a terminal illness, the health situation has continued to decline and living at home has become impossible, it may be time to consider hospice. Home Hospice of Georgia can be helpful to those who can no longer handle day-to-day activities such as laundry, eating, showering, dressing, and basic hygiene tasks, and who have no one to support them on a regular basis-or those who need the kind of round - the-clock medical care a family member is not able to do. When at home your pain can not be effectively managed. If you or a loved one are in much pain from a terminal disease, and the need for pain medication has become overwhelming, it may be time to consider hospice treatment. In the hospice, trained medical professionals monitor the discomfort of patients and are able to observe it closely, allowing pain medication to be adjusted more carefully to meet the changing needs of the patient. It is never easy to choose a hospice. Hospice care, however, may make the difference between a painful, pessimistic end-of-life situation and a more relaxed one. Try asking your doctor sooner-for yourself or a loved one - and then you can get the treatment you need.