presented by Adam J. Sparks
What Hospice Does
Hospice will evaluate the ill person’s medical condition, making note of symptoms, pain, and suffering. The person’s wishes about death are taken into consideration with a document called an advance directive or living will. Hospice also will evaluate the spiritual status of the ill person and the family, any financial problems that may prevent appropriate treatment, and any other issues the person or the family might have. Hospice will care for the whole family as a unit.
How Hospice Works
A nurse will assess the ill person’s condition and keep in close touch with the doctor. Other key staff members include the following:
• The nurse also will keep in touch with the treating physician and the hospice medical director about any symptoms of pain, nausea, constipation, depression, or other medical conditions that need treatment. Often the ill person’s symptoms can be improved significantly even though the basic illness cannot be cured.
• A social worker will assess any issues affecting the ability of the ill person’s family to deal with the illness or with any other social problems arising during the illness.
• A chaplain will help the family deal with spiritual issues around death and dying. Occasionally, the chaplain officiates at the patient’s funeral service.
• If necessary, a nutritionist will help the family deal with the fact that the person’s appetite gets worse at the end of life. At times, the patient no longer likes the taste of foods that he or she previously loved. The nutritionist may help the family find other foods or recipes that the patient can enjoy.
• A grief counselor will evaluate the family for any abnormal problems with the grieving process. Grieving often starts before the patient actually dies. The counselor will monitor the grief process for about 13 months after the person dies.
• Some hospices also can provide art or music therapy.
What Not to Expect
Hospice does not admit a person to an acute care hospital for intensive care. The idea of hospice is that most people don’t want to die in an intensive care unit (ICU) with tubes and wires sticking out of various parts of their bodies.
• The purpose of an ICU is to save the life of someone who has an illness or an injury that’s curable.
• The ICU is not set up to provide comfort measures, and doctors who frequently practice intensive care medicine often are not well versed in comfort measures.
• Doctors who specialize in palliative medicine treat people with grave illness aggressively. Hospice provides comfort measures in ways that most other doctors never learned about, but that care does not involve ICU treatment. That’s why palliative medicine is a specialty of its own.
Adam J. Sparks is Delta Hospice’s Community Director for the Temecula Valley Office. You can always get answers to your Hospice questions by calling Adam directly at 909-438-4407.