November is National Hospice and Palliative Care Month, a time to raise awareness about care for people coping with life-limiting illness. Every year, more than 1.6 million patients receive care from hospices in the United States, according to National Alliance for Care at Home (allianceforcareathome.org/hospice).
Hospice and palliative care programs provide pain management, symptom control, psychosocial support, and spiritual care to patients and their families who are facing a serious or life-limiting illness.
National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization (NHPCO), is a nonprofit membership organization representing hospice and palliative care programs and professionals in the United States. NHPCO works to improve end of life care and expand access to hospice care. Learn more about this organization at (https://tinyurl.com/yx3pcavb).
Among agencies that provide hospice care in southeast Iowa are St. Croix Hospice, which serves Clinton, Jackson, Muscatine and Scott counties and Newton in Jasper County, and Southeast Iowa Regional Home Health & Hospice based in West Burlington. Clarissa C. Cook Hospice House in Bettendorf offers hospice in its residential hospice house.
To guide you and your family in finding hospice care, consider the following questions, a non-exhaustive list provided by medicare.gov (https://tinyurl.com/4k7x2syz):
Overall program:
- Does the hospice accept my insurance?
- What services and treatments will be covered?
- How long has the hospice been serving patients?
- Where are hospice services provided?
- Will the hospice provide a hospital bed and other medical equipment I might need?
Availability:
- Will I have the same hospice nurse?
- What other members of the hospice team might I see, and how often will I see them?
- How many patients are assigned to each hospice nurse?
- Does the hospice have help after business hours? Nights? Weekends? Holidays?
- When I call with an urgent need, how long will it take for someone from the hospice team to respond?
Symptom management:
- How will the hospice team manage my pain or other symptoms that arise?
- Can I take my current medications?
- What if my symptoms become uncontrollable at home? Can I go to the hospital?
Communication, coordination and education:
- How will the hospice team keep me and my family informed about my condition?
- Will my family and I be involved in making care decisions?
- How do I communicate any questions or concerns I have about my care?
- Can I still see my regular doctor if I am on hospice? If yes, how will the hospice team coordinate care with my doctor?
- How will the hospice team prepare me and my family for what to expect?
Caregiver resources:
- Can we speak with other caregivers to learn of their experience with the hospice?
- What support services are offered by the hospice?
- What are our options if we need a break from providing care?
- What if we cannot take care of our loved one at home?
- How will the hospice team support us emotionally through the grieving process?
(Barb Arland-Fye is the retired editor of The Catholic Messenger and is a member of Our Lady of the River Parish in LeClaire.)
