What to Do When a Doctor Recommends Hospice Care
How to Proceed After a Hospice Care Recommendation
Hearing that your loved one needs hospice care can be devastating. Hospice care only for people who are days or hours away from dying – right? You may feel the urge to resist hospice care in Arizona for as long as possible because it means that you have “given up” and that you are accepting your loved one’s death.
The truth is that while hospice care is for patients who are no longer seeking curative treatment, it can begin months before a patient is expected to pass away, and it has many benefits that are worth getting for your loved one while you can. Here are a few things you should do when a doctor recommends hospice care for your loved one:
Look into the Benefits
One way to know whether your loved one needs hospice care is to talk to your doctor about the benefits. Hospice providers don’t just stand around and watch as people die. They provide a lot of helpful services to alleviate a patient’s pain and to make their quality of life the best it can be in their final days. They can drastically improve the way your loved one feels, reducing their suffering and assuaging their fears about what’s to come.
When you consider the benefits that hospice offers, you can realize how important it is to anyone who is facing the end of life. Talk to your loved one’s care team to get a more comprehensive understanding of the unique benefits your loved one can expect from hospice care.
Talk about Your Concerns
Maybe you’re resistant to getting your loved one hospice care because you think that there are more treatment options you haven’t explored. Maybe you are resistant because your loved one is afraid of death, and you feel that entering hospice care would exacerbate those fears and make the situation worse.
Talk to the medical team about your concerns. The team can help you understand that you have exhausted all options for treatment and can help you explore solutions to other issues, such as spiritual counseling to confront a fear of death. Don’t let fears get in the way of getting your loved one the care they need.
Talk to a Counselor
Maybe your loved one isn’t the one with fears about the end. Maybe you are reluctant to look into hospice care because you are afraid of facing your own feelings about death – or about losing a person so close to you.
Talking with a counselor can help you come to terms with these feelings so that you do not let them get in the way of getting your loved one needed care. A counselor can also help you through those final days so that you feel you have real closure with your loved one and you are able to manage your grief for long afterward.
Explore Financial Options
Many people are hesitant to look into hospice and palliative care in Arizona because they think they can’t afford it. After all, hospice care can be quite intensive. In home hospice care and inpatient hospice care can be round-the-clock.
The good news is that hospice care is completely covered by Medicaid, Medicare, and most private insurance plans. Those without insurance – or who have insurance that doesn’t cover the full cost of care – can explore financial options with the hospice provider directly. Many offer a credit plan or a payment plan for their services. Talk to your hospice provide about the options to help you pay for the hospice care your loved one needs.
Find the Fight Hospice Provider
It’s important that once you accept the need for good hospice care, you find the right hospice provider. You want to find a provider who is a good fit for your loved one’s medical needs and personal preferences. Make sure you shop around and that you interview providers thoroughly.
When you evaluate providers, look at their full range of services. Do they offer support for the family? Spiritual counseling? Financial assistance? The more services that are offered, the more fully supported your loved one and your family will be.
Once a doctor recommends hospice care through the Valley, you could have only days left with your loved one, or maybe even a few months. You should act quickly to move through this process so that you can get the appropriate care to make those final days the best they can be for everyone. Finding the right hospice provider will help you do that.
Americare Hospice and Palliative Care offers exceptional hospice care in Mesa and the surrounding area. We are a Catholic hospice provider, but we serve clients of all faiths. We offer in-home hospice care and inpatient hospice care, and we offer a variety of services for the whole family, including individual and group therapy and spiritual counseling. Contact us today to learn more about our services.
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1212 N. Spencer St., Suite #2
Mesa, Arizona 85203
Office: (480) 726-7773
Fax: (480) 726-7790
Email: info@americarehospice.org
