How Do I Know When My Loved One is Ready for Hospice?

Discussing hospice can be a beneficial option at any stage of a life-limiting illness. Patients as well as their families benefit the most when they are supported by the hospice team with physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual support from their hospice team as early as possible.

You or your loved one may be ready for hospice when they have a serious, life-threatening illness with a life expectancy of six months or less, as diagnosed by a physician. This can be a result of numerous illnesses, including heart disease, cancer, dementia, Alzheimer’s disease and more.

Hospice care is not just for the patient.
Having the hospice team there to help can also provide helpful resources for the caregiver and other family members. Your care team can help with things like counseling, finding placement in a nursing home for respite care when needed, or navigating the confusion of health insurance and Medicare or Medicaid. They can also provide helpful resources for getting legal matters put in order, like living wills and power of attorney.

Plus, the nursing team is there to help alleviate some of the tasks of being a caregiver, including bathing the patient, personal care and more. They can provide helpful training for the caregiver to teach you how to comfort them, feed them, and care for them overall.

Hospice care focuses on comfort and pain management.
Comfort care and symptom management become the primary focus when curative treatment is no longer the patient’s choice or option. When patients opt to utilize hospice care, they are choosing quality of life over treatment plans that may just delay the inevitable.

Hospice care, and the comprehensive focus on all aspects of care, allow patients and families a chance to make memories that last. Research has even shown that with the help of hospice and palliative care, patients who elect to receive hospice care actually live longer with better quality of life.

Gulfside Hospice – Serving Patients for 30 Years
Every day, more than 450 Pasco County residents receive hospice care from the team at Gulfside Hospice. They emphasize that hospice care is about more than just the patient – it’s about the whole family. With an interdisciplinary approach to care and an array of services, Gulfside Hospice is able to help patients and families live their lives to the fullest.

Every person receiving care from Gulfside has access to the organization’s whole team, which includes hospice-certified physicians, nurses, hospice aides, social workers, chaplains and volunteers. Some of the services provided by Gulfside’s team include:
• Visits from physicians who offer pain management and symptom control
• Regular visits from registered nurses, plus the ability to contact the nursing team 24/7
• Coordination of medical supplies, medication and equipment like oxygen tanks, walkers, hospital beds and more
• Assistance with personal care provided by certified nursing assistants
• Services from social workers who specialize in helping families cope with issues surrounding life-limiting illnesses
• And so much more.

Gulfside is the only not-for-profit hospice that serves Pasco County exclusively, and was the first hospice in Pasco to receive The Joint Commission’s Seal of Approval Accreditation. To learn more about how Gulfside can help you and your family, call (800) 561-4883 to speak with one of the organization’s experts. For more information, visit Gulfside.org.

Gulfside Hospice
800-561-4883
www.Gulfside.org