Why is hospice care important?
The end of life does not have to be experienced solely as a time of pain, fear, loneliness, and anxiety. Hospice promotes the broad principle of palliative care and focuses on quality of life, thereby turning the end of life into an important time of living. Being in the home with family members gives patients comfort and security, and relieves feelings of isolation. By allowing patients to live life fully and make their own decisions, hospice provides them dignity and respect. Unlike other methods of health care, hospice also focuses on the well-being of the patient’s family and offers support as it is needed. In addition, family members play an important role in making decisions about the patient’s care. They may also be involved in the direct care of their loved one. Hospice provides a great deal of support to help families through the process of loss and grief. Hospice can also prevent unnecessary hospitalizations. Experienced professionals can predict many of the physical and psyc
Far too many people fear and experience death as a time of pain, anxiety and loneliness. Hospice alleviates fear and pain with comfort, knowledge and caring. Hospice focuses on quality of life, thereby turning the end of life into an important time of living, closure, and even growth. Hospice also helps people attain their wishes for the end of their lives. For example, when interviewed, 75% of people say they want to die at home. Fifty percent of hospice patients are able to fulfill this wish, but only 25% of non-hospice patients end their days in their place of choice. Additionally, only 9% of hospice patients died in a hospital, while 75% of those without hospice care died in an institutional setting, with 15% in the emergency room and 35% in acute care. Hospice care is so important because each of us has the right to die pain-free and with dignity, and our families should receive the necessary support to allow us to do so. No one should ever have to die alone, scared, and in pain.
