In this blog, we discuss five common myths about hospice care. If you have any questions about these or other concerns, contact us today to discuss how our care can support you or your loved one.
Myth 1. Hospice Care is Only Provided in a Hospital or Other Facility
Hospice care is specialized care that provides for the mental, emotional, spiritual, and physical needs of both the patient and the caregiver/family. Hospice Care is mostly provided in a home setting, whether that is a private home, skilled nursing or assisted living facility, or wherever you call home. If symptoms progress to be unmanageable at home, you may need a stay at a hospice facility, like Elizabeth House, where care is provided 24/7.
Myth 2. Hospice Patients Only Receive Pain Medication
Symptom management is an important part of hospice care. Hospice Care does help manage symptoms and pain for the patient but also provides emotional and spiritual support. We call this “whole person care” which is provided with the goal of helping our patients and their families enhance their quality of life. In addition, we care for the caregiver and family, offering grief counseling, support from social workers and more. Four Seasons also welcomes the involvement of your existing providers and professionals to ensure your healthcare goals are met.
Myth 3. Choosing Hospice Means You are Giving Up on Your Loved One
Hospice care is the “something more” that can be done when nothing else can be done. While hospice does not provide curative treatment for illness, it provides comfort care, allowing your loved one to live with higher quality of life in their last months, weeks, and days. Additionally, hospice gives much-needed support to the caregiver. Full-time caregivers carry heavy responsibilities, often keeping them from spending quality time with their loved one or allowing themselves to grieve. With relief from symptoms and support for the caregiver, hospice care is the loving thing to do for the patient and the family.
“This is an inevitable part of life. You realize that you’re always going to miss the person when they’re gone, and you have to learn to live with it. But once you come to terms with that, hospice shouldn’t be a scary thing. It’s something you do for yourself and for the people you love.” – Marilyn Gordon, wife of hospice patient, Norman Gordon (Read all of Norman and Marilyn’s story of embracing hospice care here).
Myth 4. Choosing Hospice Means Giving Up Control of Your Care
Hospice care is not a one-size-fits-all approach to end-of-life care. Your goals direct your care. While our professional and trained staff may recommend symptom management measures, the direction of your care is ultimately the patient and caregiver/family’s decision. At Four Seasons, we ask “What matters most to you?” This allows us to have an open conversation about what you want and don’t want for your care journey.
“When we first came to Elizabeth House, I had talked with the staff about how they could honor our view of reality and death… when my mother died, we wanted to partake in ritual and take our time to say a proper goodbye…This process was sacred and important to us and my mother. We were allowed to just “be” at Four Seasons. There was no pressure to follow a rigid step-by-step process after my mother died. What was most important to us was truly most important to them.” -David Raymond, Son of Hospice Patient, Mary Ettehadieh Stull (Read Mary and David’s story about how Four Seasons honored Mary and her family’s wishes for her last days here).
Myth 5. Hospice is Only for Cancer Patients
Hospice care is available and appropriate for anyone needing compassionate, quality, and dignified end-of-life care, regardless of the type of serious illness.
Additional Resources
NPHCO- Debunking Hospice Myths Propagated by a Recent News Story
CaringInfo- 10 Myths about Hospice Care
NPHI- Patient & Caregiver Resources
Hospice Care on His Terms: Norman Gordon’s Story
David Raymond Shared How What Mattered Most to His Mother, Mattered Most to Four Seasons
