Do you have an elderly loved one who is dealing with a serious illness? If you’re like many people in Fremont, you may not be all that familiar with the resources that are available – and you might be wondering if hospice care or home health care would be a better fit.
Given the importance of choosing the right type of care at the right time, you need to understand how these two options differ. To learn what sets hospice care apart from home health services and when each is appropriate, take a look at the following.
What is Hospice Care?
Hospice care is a form of specialized assistance for patients with a limited life expectancy. The focus of hospice is on quality of life, and services are geared toward helping people with incurable conditions enjoy the time they have left as fully and comfortably as possible.
Routine hospice care takes place wherever a terminally ill patient lives – often, that’s their own home or that of a relative, but services are also available to residents of Fremont nursing homes and assisted living facilities. The primary, day-to-day caregivers are usually family members and friends, but they have the support of an interdisciplinary team that includes hospice nurses, physicians, chaplains, social workers, therapists, grief counselors and other specialists.
For patients and families in need, three other levels of hospice care are available in the Fremont area. These include:
- Continuous home care, which involves around-the-clock assistance from a hospice nurse in the event of a health crisis
- In-patient care, with the patient temporarily staying in a hospital or hospice facility until their condition is stabilized
- Respite care, or a short-term transition to in-patient care for the purpose of giving family and friends a much-needed break
Hospice care plans are personalized to provide the specific services a terminally ill patient needs. A few of the more common hospice services are:
- Delivery of medications along with any home medical equipment and medical supplies the patient needs
- Pain and symptom management to ensure that the patient enjoys the highest quality of life for their remaining days
- 24-hour access to hospice nurses who can answer questions and, when necessary, send someone out to manage a crisis
- Counseling, emotional support, spiritual assistance and bereavement therapy for the hospice patient and their family
What is Home Health Care?
The key difference between hospice and home health care is that the latter isn’t for people with life-limiting conditions. Home health services are for those who need assistance managing a chronic condition or help recovering from an illness, injury or surgery.
However, that’s not to say that anyone in Fremont can access home health services. Medicare, Medicaid and most private insurers only provide this type of care to homebound patients – and only people who rarely leave their homes because of their medical symptoms are considered to be homebound. And unlike hospice care, home health care may not be fully covered. In some cases, patients or their families have to shoulder the costs of medication and supplies.
To receive home health care services, a patient’s doctor must certify that they are in need of at least one of the following:
- Part-time skilled nursing services
- Physical or occupational therapy
- Speech-language pathology services
- Would care, injections or IV therapy
Health care agencies typically coordinate the services a doctor orders for a patient. As for the duration, that depends on the patient’s needs and goals. And sometimes, people who receive home health services become eligible for hospice care as their condition progresses. Since hospice offers a greater level of support, this is often the best course of action for patients who:
- Experience a significant unintentional weight loss
- Spend most or all of their time in bed or in a chair
- Become increasingly drowsy or confused
- Have difficulty breathing with minimal exertion
- Suffer ongoing physical or functional decline
Similarities of Hospice Care and Home Health Care
As you can see, hospice and home health services are different. At the same time, they do have quite a bit in common. Both provide eligible Fremont patients with:
- Services tailored to meet their particular needs
- Assistance in the home – or wherever a patient calls home
- Help with daily living activities like bathing and grooming
- More independence and fewer unplanned hospitalizations
- Skilled assistance for as long as eligibility requirements are met
In addition, hospice care and home health services are similar in that both are covered by Medicare, Medicaid and most private insurance companies – if, that is, a patient meets the criteria for eligibility. And, both are less costly than a hospital or facility stay.
Reach Out to the Suncrest Team Today
If you believe that your loved one could benefit from hospice care contact Suncrest in Fremont. We’d be happy to answer your questions and offer advice on helping your elderly relative enjoy a better quality of life in their later years.
For more on the Fremont Suncrest Care Team, or to discuss hospice care and home health care with a compassionate and knowledgeable professional, give us a call today.
