In Cincinnati, many people who are living with an end-stage disease or terminal illness turn to hospice care as their condition progresses. Hospice isn’t a place – it’s a philosophy that focuses on the individual and their quality of life. Services are designed around patient comfort and well-being, not on efforts to find a cure or prolong life.
Provided at the right time, hospice care offers the opportunity to find fulfilment in the final chapter of life. Patients are able to enjoy their remaining time at home, surrounded by family and friends, while receiving the support and attentive care they need.
How does one qualify for hospice care in Cincinnati? How does the process work? And how do you know if it’s time to consider hospice? Below, the Suncrest Care Team in Cincinnati explains the basics.
Requirements for Hospice Care
To enter hospice – and to have the costs covered by Medicare, Medicaid or a private insurer – patients have two main qualifications to meet.
The first requirement is a terminal diagnosis, with a prognosis of six months or less if the condition takes its normal course. Hospice is available to people who are facing any type of life-limiting illness or incurable disease. Some of the conditions that qualify for hospice care include:
- AIDS
- Alzheimer’s disease
- Cancer
- Cardiac disease
- Chronic kidney disease
- COPD
- Emphysema
- Lou Gehrig’s disease (ALS)
- Multiple sclerosis
- Parkinson’s disease
- Stroke
Cincinnati patients with other conditions can also qualify for hospice care – it’s the terminal diagnosis and limited life expectancy that matters, not the specific condition.
As for the second requirement for hospice, that’s the choice to discontinue further curative treatment. To qualify, patients must be ready to forgo disease-directed procedures and therapies.
Starting the Hospice Process
Many people who are eligible for hospice care receive a referral from a doctor. Cincinnati residents can refer themselves by contacting a care provider directly to request a consultation.
Meeting with a representative of the hospice agency is typically free of charge, and patients aren’t obligated to engage their services. Those who are satisfied with the consultation can be immediately admitted into the hospice program. However, no one should be pressured into making that decision.
When consulting with a hospice agency, patients can expect the representative to:
- Complete a comprehensive evaluation of their condition
- Explain how hospice works and what’s required of family caregivers
- Discuss the available services and the members of the hospice team
If a patient chooses to accept the hospice care provider, the necessary paperwork will be completed and signed during the consultation. This doesn’t have to take place right away, though – admission into a Cincinnati program can happen during a separate visit, scheduled when the patient is ready.
After someone enters hospice, they are assigned a hospice team. Members may include physicians, nurses and physical, occupational or speech therapists as well as home health aides, therapists, social workers, chaplains, grief counselors and trained volunteers – essentially, the team is comprised of people who are capable of addressing all aspects of a patient’s care.
The team members meet with the patient and their family to discuss their needs and goals. Using this information, a plan of care is developed, which specifies such things as:
- The medications, medical supplies and home health equipment to be provided
- The specific services the patient will receive from the hospice care provider
- How often doctors, nurses and other specialists will visit the patient
This plan of care isn’t set in stone – the hospice team regularly reviews the plan and makes any changes necessary to address a patient’s needs.
When to Consider Hospice Care
When a patient has a terminal diagnosis and less than six months to live, they’re generally eligible for hospice care. Certain factors can indicate that it’s time – and if you’re wondering a loved one might qualify, ask yourself the following questions:
- Are curative treatments no longer effective or producing undesirable side effects?
- Is your loved one ready to stop searching for a cure for their terminal condition?
- Are they having difficulties with dressing, hygiene and other daily living activities?
- Has their mental alertness and/or cognition begun to go into decline?
In addition, if your loved one experiences any of the following, it may be time to consider hospice care:
- A spike in emergency room visits or hospitalizations
- Loss of more than 10 percent of their body weight
- The development of comorbidities, or additional diseases
- Increasing weakness, sleepiness and fatigue
- Worsening symptoms, like increased pain or constant nausea
For dementia patients, figuring out when to call for hospice care services can be challenging due to the slow progression of this type of condition. There’s no predetermined list of symptoms that defines eligibility, but it may be time for hospice if your loved one:
- Speaks just a few words every day
- Has difficulty swallowing or frequently chokes
- Can’t sit upright or walk without assistance
- Develops incontinence of the bladder and bowels
- Seems to be increasingly agitated or restless
Do you think your loved one may qualify for hospice care? In Cincinnati, Suncrest Hospice is here to help. For a free, no-obligation consultation, contact us today!
