What Is Hospice Care?
Hospice Care Services
During a serious illness, you or your loved ones may talk with your doctor and decide that the treatments that are meant to cure or slow the illness are no longer working. Or you may decide to stop those treatments for other reasons. When that happens and you are nearing the end of life, your doctor can refer you to hospice care, also known as end-of-life care.
Hospice care can make sense when you're no longer trying to extend your life, but you want relief from pain and other symptoms, along with emotional, practical, and spiritual support for the last phase of life.
Some people might think using hospice means they're giving up. Others may worry that they won’t get the medical care they need. But hospice care simply shifts the focus of medical care and other supports to improve the quality of your life for as long as it lasts. So, you might spend much less time and energy on treatments and tests and more time and energy on whatever matters most to you.
Your team may include a doctor, nurse, social worker, counselor, chaplain (if you’re religious), home health aide, and trained volunteers. They work together to meet your needs.
Hospice is for family members, too. It offers counseling and help with practical things such as house cleaning and shopping.
Hospice vs. Palliative Care
Hospice care is a type of palliative care -- which is care that focuses on comfort and quality of life for someone with a serious illness. All palliative care aims to match your care with your preferences for how to live your life. It provides medical, social, emotional, and practical support to help you feel better in body and mind.
But there are differences between hospice and other forms of palliative care.
Palliative care
It's possible to get palliative care at any stage of an illness. You can get palliative care while still trying to cure your illness. For example, your palliative care team might help you manage side effects so you can complete chemotherapy treatments for cancer. Or you might get counseling to manage the stress of dealing with your condition.