At our latest Lunch and Learn event on Wednesday, September 19th, we were pleased to welcome, from Renew Home Health and Hospice, Administrator Janice Millette, nurse Preston and PT Assistant/Activities Coordinator Andrew to help us discuss the topics of Caregiving and Hospice Care. Not only did they, themselves, come to present but they treated those in attendance to a delicious box lunch from Chick-fil-A. During the hour-long program, we learned what it means to be under care of a hospice provider, how the need for such services is determined, by what agencies they will be provided, and how important pre-planning care can be for not only the one in need but also for family, loved ones and those wanting to be supportive and supported during end-of-life times.

Hospice care should begin when there is the expectation that, given the usual course of a terminal disease, a person might have six months or less to live. A common misconception is that hospice care will last the six months, no more, no less. However, in certain instances, the patient could, in fact, improve after accepting hospice care from its many resources and may come off hospice for some period of time. One important fact was stressed by our speakers - the average length of time a person receives valuable hospice care is for only a week before passing away. Sadly, hospice services are often called in too late in the illness after their team of doctors, nurses, social workers, spiritual counselors, home health aides, volunteers, short term respite and caregiver support could have been providing comfort and dignity and important end-of-life care. Medical providers recommend hospice when it becomes evident that treatments focused on curing a disease are no longer beneficial and the patient's condition is not expected to improve. Hospice care costs, including medical equipment and supplies, are covered by Medicare, Medicaid and most private insurers as long as no heroic measures other than continuation of usual medications and physical care are being employed. However, Hospice does not provide room and board or ongoing, around-the-clock care.

Death is as much a part of life as is birth and choosing to receive Hospice care does not mean that you have given up. Instead, it means that you are in control and advocating for living life as fully as possible for as long as possible. You always have the option to change your mind. If you do choose to enlist the services of Hospice in the future, it will be a very personal relationship. Therefore, it will be crucial that you and your loved one's interview more than one provider to help you all decide which facility best meets your level of comfort at such a difficult time. As we have stressed during our programs this year, planning for all stages of our lives and making our wishes known to others, including thoughts about end-of life-care, can ease the burdens for those left behind.

If you would like to listen to the audio from the presentation, it can be found here. The handout from the presentation can be found here.