Whether you’re choosing for yourself or a loved one, making a decision about in-home hospice care can be overwhelming. There’s a lot to consider for everyone involved, and that can add to your stress. At Hospice of the Piedmont, our hospice care team strives to make every step of your journey as smooth and supportive as possible.
If you’re contemplating receiving services, we’ve put together this simple guide about the benefits of hospice care and what you can expect to help you feel more confident and prepared.
Hospice is Not a Place; It’s a Holistic Care Philosophy.
A common misconception about hospice care is that it is a place where people go to die. Rather than this, however, hospice is a chance for terminally ill patients to regain a sense of agency and comfort right in their own homes.
Hospice care is based on the belief that the end of one’s life deserves as much joy and respect as possible. Receiving hospice care isn’t about giving into despair; it’s about taking the rest of your life into your own hands with hope and relief from pain.
Unlike other medical services, hospice care is interdisciplinary. This means our hospice care team can take care of your (and your family’s) needs—physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual.
Find out more about our approach to hospice care, including how we keep patients and families at the center of our hospice model.
In-Home Care Provides the Same Hospice Care Benefits as a Dedicated Hospice Facility.
Since hospice care is a philosophy, it can be provided in various settings. While you might think that hospice care facilities provide better services, this isn’t the case.
While there may be limitations regarding what is available in a specialized facility compared to in-home hospice care, at Hospice of the Piedmont, our team of professionals focuses on providing patient and family-centered care, emotional support, and pain management for patients with a terminal illness.
Pain and Symptom Management for Patients with Terminal Illnesses
Hospice is about enhancing a patient’s quality of life. Patients who choose in-home hospice care receive an individualized plan based on their and their family’s needs. This plan covers all their needs, including comprehensive pain and symptom management. The hospice care team is an interdisciplinary team usually led by a registered nurse (RN), who all work to alleviate a patient’s pain and physical symptoms to allow a peaceful life free of suffering.
Emotional and Spiritual Counseling
The lack of curative potential can be very difficult for patients and families. While there might not be a chance to cure the person, there is always the chance to allow them a dignified transition to the end of their life.
Hospice care is patient and family-centered, meaning it focuses on all aspects of the person’s well-being as well as their loved ones. Hospice care often focuses on maintaining the patient’s emotional and mental stability through a focus on their beliefs and wishes. Apart from psychological counseling, hospice care teams also provide interpersonal and psychosocial support for both the patient and their loved ones while paying attention to their personal, spiritual, or religious beliefs.
Hospice of the Piedmont offers free ongoing support group services for the community, whether your loved one used our hospice services or not.
Assistance with Daily Living
For terminally ill patients, daily activities like walking, bathing, or getting dressed can become increasingly difficult as time passes. One of the benefits of hospice care at Hospice of the Piedmont is that our teams come with highly trained aides and nurses who can help the patient perform these daily tasks in the comfort of their own homes.
Deciding on where to receive hospice care in Virginia? As a nonprofit hospice, Hospice of the Piedmont offers hospice care in Charlottesville, VA, and the surrounding area and is passionate about serving our community, regardless of their ability to pay. We provide extensive services to offer as much as possible regarding care centered around patients and families who come to us. To learn more, contact us at +1 434-817-6900 (toll-free: +1 800-975-5501), or make a donation today.
