Thank you to Kacy Hall and her team from Heartland Hospice for coming to our office and presenting two sessions of “Hospice Myths Debunked” to our team of caregivers. The presentation was fun and engaging. We even got to play a buzzer game and win prizes as we learned. Some of the things we learned were:
- What hospice is and is not
- The indicators that someone might be a good candidate for hospice
- The benefits and misconceptions of hospice
- Hospice is by nature palliative care- the goal is to improve quality of life for the patient and their family.
- Hospice provides care wherever the patient calls home.
- A patient can receive hospice without having signed a DNR (Do Not Resuscitate)
- Hospice is not just for cancer patients. 60% of hospice patients have a diagnosis other than cancer.
- If a family member is not available, Hospice will help coordinate separate community resources (like HomeChoice Home Care Solutions) to keep the patient at home as long as possible. These additional services are not covered under Medicare or Medicaid.
- The Medicare and Medicaid Hospice Benefits cover hospice services at 100%.
- A doctor does not have to bring up hospice first, patients can choose to meet with hospice to discuss the benefit at any time.
- Accepting hospice does not mean “giving up” – giving up hope, giving up trying or praying for a cure. Hospice does focus on palliative (comfort) care versus a cure, but patients do not have to be “ready to die” before getting the care they need and deserve.
HomeChoice Home Care Solutions is invested in its caregivers and is dedicated to offering ways to continuously learn. Thank you again to the Heartland Hospice team, the caregivers who attended and participated in the class and to our nurse, Carrie, who was instrumental in bringing this opportunity to all of our staff.
