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What is the difference between Home Health Services and Hospice Services? What is Palliative Treatment (Care)? What if I don’t want a service like Bereavement, Chaplain, or Medical Social Work visits? Are all my medications covered by hospice? Can I have a hospital bed or bedside commode? Will a nurse stay with me all the time? What will I do when I can’t stay at home anymore? Will you make me stop taking medications? Will I have pain at the end of life? Can I donate my organs and tissues if I am on hospice services? Can I still see my regular doctor? Can I still have treatment for other medical conditions? What will I do if I can’t take care of my loved one anymore?
What is the difference between Home Health Services and Hospice Services? Home Health Services are designed to restore a patient to a prior level of function with the use of medical intervention, education and monitoring from a variety of disciplines including nursing, therapies, home health aides and medical social work support. Home Health Services are generally short term treatment in the home for those patients who find it difficult to leave their home to receive their health care. Hospice services are designed for longer term support for those patients who have chronic progressive diseases who have been determined by their physician to be terminally ill. Our desire is to allow patients to remain in the home, wherever that may be. Some of the goals of Hospice are to provide education related to the disease process, emotional support for patients and their caregivers and after the death of the patient we follow the family or caregivers for an additional 18 months to ensure that they are coping with the death of their loved one. A variety of disciplines make up the hospice team including: physicians, nurses, therapists, social workers, home health aides, chaplains, volunteers and bereavement support staff. -back to top
What is Palliative Treatment (Care)? Palliative Care is a philosophy of care that treats the symptoms of chronic diseases. The goal is to improve the quality of life with aggressive symptom management. Palliative Care and Hospice Care are both philosophies that support the rights of the patient to choose the care that they receive; and to give support and education to patients and their families. When you choose Palliative Care or Hospice Care you are not choosing to not treat, but instead to treat the symptoms of a disease for which there is no cure. Quality of life is the focus rather than aggressive treatment which may lengthen the time a patient lives, but the person’s life may have poor quality. -back to top
What if I don’t want a service like Bereavement, Chaplain, or Medical Social Work visits? You have the right to refuse any services you do not want. -back to top
Are all my medications covered by hospice? Usually not all of your medications; however Hospice covers medications related to the terminal diagnosis for symptom control and those medications needed for comfort. -back to top
Can I have a hospital bed or bedside commode? Yes, medical equipment is part of the hospice benefit. -back to top
Will a nurse stay with me all the time? No, usually a nurse doesn’t stay with you all the time. Some patients may need a level of care that does require a nurse; called continuous care, at the end of their life or have symptoms that need a nurse to manage for a short period of time. This is a covered hospice benefit if the patient qualifies. -back to top
What will I do when I can’t stay at home anymore? Our team will work with you and your family to help you make those decisions when and if that time comes. There are many options available to you and our goal is to have honest and open discussions so that you have a choice. -back to top
Will you make me stop taking medications? No, we will not make you stop taking your medications. You may decide that you want to stop certain medications and we will work with you and your physician to make sure that your wishes are followed. -back to top
Will I have pain at the end of life? Our goal is to ensure that you have the best quality of life until the end of your life. One of our main focuses will be ongoing pain control and ensuring that your pain is at a level acceptable to you. While no one can guarantee that you will have no pain, our goal will be to make sure that you are comfortable. -back to top
Can I donate my organs and tissues if I am on hospice services? Yes, we work with the Wichita Eye Bank and other organizations that deal with organ or tissue donation. We will help you coordinate those requests if that is what your wishes are. -back to top
Can I still see my regular doctor? Yes, you can see any doctor that you choose to see including specialists while you are on Hospice services. You just need to inform them that you have elected the Hospice benefit. -back to top
Can I still have treatment for other medical conditions? Yes! When you choose Hospice Services you can still have treatment for any other medical conditions. Your regular insurance or MediCARE/MediCAID does not stop. -back to top
What will I do if I can’t take care of my loved one anymore? Our team will work with you and your family to develop a plan if this becomes an issue. There are many options for long term care placement, 24 hour private paid services and sometimes friends and family are available. See Faith In Home Services. -back to top
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