The focus of hospice care is comfort, quality, and relief of symptoms. Hospice care is provided to individuals whose life expectancy of 6 months or less. It is not uncommon for families to be resistant to bringing in hospice, as they believe it signifies they are giving up. Please do not be resistant to hospice care. They provide a wonderful and much needed level of care for your loved one as well as for the entire family.
Your loved one will be assigned a care team that consists of doctors, nurses, social workers, spiritual counselors, volunteers, and bereavement care. Hospice care provides the following:
- Ensuring that your loved one is bathed and kept clean
- Pain and symptom management
- Assists the family in making end of life decisions (if those decisions have not yet been finalized)
- Hospice care is a covered benefit under Medicare, Medicaid and most private insurance companies
- Spiritual support for your loved one and your entire family
How Do You Know When It’s Time to Consider Hospice Care
There is not a definitive method to determine one’s life expectancy as they enter the final stage of Alzheimer’s, but there are strong indicators that signal it is time to talk with your loved one’s doctor about hospice care:
- Two or more emergency room or hospitalizations in the last six months
- Progressive weight loss
- Loss of appetite
- Progressive loss of speech
If your loved one is experiencing any of these indicators, please contact your doctor for a hospice referral.