Most patients pass away in healthcare facilities such as hospitals and nursing homes because of receiving care that is not aligned with their wishes. It would be best if the terminally ill make appropriate plans and make their doctors, caregivers, and family members aware of their end-of-life preferences in advance.
In this regard, if a terminally ill intends to pass on at home, receive care for pain and other symptoms, and make the caregivers aware, there is little or no likelihood of passing away in a hospital while receiving unwanted treatments.
Palliative care involves specialized care for people suffering from serious illnesses. Patients in palliative care may receive care for their signs or symptoms and treatment intended to cure the sickness.
It is meant to improve the current care of an individual by concentrating on the quality of life for the patient and family. Also, it helps patients understand their medical treatment options.
If the palliative care team believes that the ongoing treatment is no longer helping the patient and the patient might pass on within six months, the care could transition to hospice care.
Most people choose hospice care at the end of life because it focuses on the comfort, care, and quality of life of an individual approaching the end of life.
Therefore, when you begin hospice care, you understand that your illness is not responding to attempts to cure it or slow down its gradual development.
Given that hospice care does not involve attempts for a cure, you or your loved ones need to choose the best hospice to care for your health needs before passing on.
Choosing the best hospice is one of the most crucial decisions you can make for yourself or a loved one. Given that all hospice programs offer the same basic services to patients and families, there are considerations that you need to make to ensure you choose the best hospice.
Below are the main tips for choosing the best hospice.
Assess the Provider’s History and Reputation
Evaluating the history and reputation of a provider will help you establish the duration the provider has been in business. Also, it will help you determine whether it hires its employees or it sub-contracts other entities.
The review provided by other patients can help in knowing their experiences with different providers.
Also, assessing a provider’s certification and payment policies can help you choose the best provider. This is because it helps establish whether it is Medicare-certified, under insurance coverage and whether it provides excellent charity care to patients.
When you evaluate the history and details of care that you or your loved one will receive, it helps make comparisons and choose the best.
Through this, you can establish whether the hospice provides individualized care, the frequency of visits by caregivers and whether they educate caregivers.
Determine the Levels of Care Provided
In choosing the best hospice, you need to ensure that the program provides all levels of hospice care. These include care at home, continuous care, respite, and inpatient care.
Also, it would be best if you established whether the provider provides all equipment, medication, and supplies relating to terminal care to the patient.
It would help if you inquired about emergencies, timing, and the level of specialty care provided. Besides, when you assess the ability of the care provided to take care of the needs of complex or very ill patients, you can decide whether the care is the best or not.
You also need to explore the inclusion of supportive services in the program, such as pet visits, massage, and music therapy.
Level of Communication and Empathy
After interacting with staff members, you need to concentrate on your impressions. This will help you determine whether the representatives were empathetic and excellent communicators.
The ability of the representatives of a hospice to respond to all your questions to your satisfaction will help you decide whether they are the best or not.
Available End-of-Life Care Options
End-of-life care options provided by providers can change a difficult moment into a good one. Therefore, in choosing the best hospice, you need to gather information about the options provided by the providers.
Based on your family and unique circumstances, you need to ensure positive interactions and memories.
Besides your physical needs, you need to consider whether the provider has the resources to take care of your spiritual needs and grief care.
Illuminate Hospice is a palliative hospice that fulfills the criteria of the best hospice. It has adequate resources to cater to your emotional, physical, and spiritual needs. Also, it is committed to giving you or your loved ones the highest quality of care with dignity, sensitivity, and compassion.
The hospice and palliative care provider provides you with the comfort and support services that you deserve. This is through the management of the medical conditions, education, and individualized care. Also, it provides different services that they believe can make all the difference in the well-being of patients.