{"id":2505,"date":"2023-09-24T12:12:53","date_gmt":"2023-09-24T12:12:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/finalexodus.org\/EndOfLife\/?page_id=2505"},"modified":"2024-01-14T17:43:31","modified_gmt":"2024-01-14T17:43:31","slug":"hospice","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/finalexodus.org\/EndOfLife\/hospice\/","title":{"rendered":"Hospice"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
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HOSPICE<\/h1>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t
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\u201cMedicine has forgotten how vital [certain] matters are to people as they approach life\u2019s end.\u00a0 People want to share memories, pass on wisdom and keepsakes, connect with lived ones, and to make some last contributions to the world.\u00a0 These moments are among life\u2019s most important, for both the dying and those left behind. \u201d
[One can\u2019t find these moments easily in a hospital, but can at home under hospice care.]<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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Surgeon Atul Gawande, NY Times<\/em> Oct. 5, 2014, p. 9.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t

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ABOUT HOSPICE<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t
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Hospices provide not just care for the dying person, but for the entire family.\u00a0<\/p>

Hospices are a\u00a0 medical resource that:<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t

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  • Provide palliative (comfort) care.<\/li> \n
  • Help patients and their families through the dying process after curative treatment is halted. <\/li> \n
  • Usually provide services in the patient\u2019s home, but can elsewhere too.Typically hospices come to the patient's home. But hospice can assist even if the patient is still hospitalized. Some hospitals have hospice beds. Some hospices have their own beds.\n<\/span>\n<\/span> <\/li> \n
  • Can choose or not to support Medial Aid in Dying (MAiD), Voluntarily Stopping Eating and Drinking (VSED), and even the inert gas method.<\/li>\n
  • Get paid by Medicare if the patient is terminal (six months or less to live).\n <\/li> \n<\/ul>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t
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    Hospices do not<\/b>:<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t

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    • Entice people to die.<\/li> \n
    • Try to cure the patients\u2019 illnesses. <\/li>\n
    • Usually provide a 24\/7 or even a few hours a day caretaking service. Family\/friends\/or paid caretakers are expected to do the majority of caretaking, a not easy task.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t
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      THE HOSPICE PROCESS<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t
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      • The patient is interviewed by the hospice\u2019s doctor or other medical staff. <\/li> \n
      • The doctor reviews the patient\u2019s medical record to understand the patient\u2019s illness and to determine if s\/he is terminal\u2013that is, has, in the doctor\u2019s opinion, less than six months to live. Such determination is essential for hospice to get paid by Medicare. <\/li> \n
      • The doctor prescribes the palliative care. <\/li> \n
      • The hospice nurse sees to the prescribed care and visits the patient weekly, or more often if needed. A social worker often visits too.<\/li> \n
      • A chaplain (minister, rabbi, priest) may also visit if requested by the patient. <\/li>\n
      • Doctors visit less often or not at all.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t
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        CHOOSING A HOSPICE<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t
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        In most communities there are many hospices. for profit and non-profit.  Typically hospices are staffed with doctors, nurses, social workers and clergy.  Often volunteers help with patients – such as chatting or reading to them, running errands, relieving the care-giver for a while, etc.<\/p>\n

        The first thing to do is to go to hospice websites and compare them. Then narrow your list to three or four, then ask these questions:<\/p>\n

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        • What services are provided and how often?<\/li> \n
        • What roles do your doctors, nurses, social workers play? <\/li> \n
        • Do you have volunteers, and if so, what can they do? <\/li> \n
        • How do you keep patients comfortable?
        • What support is given to family and to care givers?<\/li>\n
        • What services are provided after hours?\n
        • Is the hospice non-profit or for profit?<\/li>\n
        • Do you support choices to intentionally shorten life, such as VSED, and inert gases? In MAiD states: do you support the MAiD process?\n<\/li>\n
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          • If so, at what level? <\/li>\n
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            • Will your doctor prescribe the lethal medication under your state's Medical Aid in Dying law? If not, will he or she be the second \"consulting\" physician?<\/li>\n
            • Are your staff educated and supported to provide aid in dying care, from consideration through providing?<\/li>\n
            • Do MD's provide care? Is there someone on staff to provide care?<\/li>\n
            • What can your nurses and staff do or not do?<\/li>\n
            • Does your hospice have specialized MAiD grief\/spiritual care?<\/li>\n\n
            • If VSED is chosen, will your staff willingly withhold food and fluid?<\/li>\n <\/ul>\n<\/ul><\/ul>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t
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              \n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tOften hospices are called too late in the dying process—too often the patient dies within days.\u00a0 But hospice services can be paid for by Medicare for six months, and, depending on medical opinion, hospice service can last longer.\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

              HOSPICE \u201cMedicine has forgotten how vital [certain] matters are to people as they approach life\u2019s end.\u00a0 People want to share memories, pass on wisdom and keepsakes, connect with lived ones, and to make some last contributions to the world.\u00a0 These moments are among life\u2019s most important, for both the dying and those left behind. \u201d[One […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-2505","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/finalexodus.org\/EndOfLife\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/2505","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/finalexodus.org\/EndOfLife\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/finalexodus.org\/EndOfLife\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/finalexodus.org\/EndOfLife\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/finalexodus.org\/EndOfLife\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2505"}],"version-history":[{"count":20,"href":"https:\/\/finalexodus.org\/EndOfLife\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/2505\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7036,"href":"https:\/\/finalexodus.org\/EndOfLife\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/2505\/revisions\/7036"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/finalexodus.org\/EndOfLife\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2505"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}