What is hospice?  Probably no form of senior care is as little understood as hospice.  People often have misconceptions about it and almost always questions such as:

• Is it a building, like a hospital? 
• Who are the professionals who will take care of my mother in hospice care? 
• How much, or how little, will they do for her? 
• If nursing home costs have impoverished her how will she, or we, pay for hospice care? 
• What role does the family play in hospice care?

Hospice care is sometimes thought of as a synonym for palliative care.  That’s not too far wrong, but hospice care is really a particular kind of palliative care.  Palliative care is a form of treatment that does not attempt to cure the patient’s underlying disease.  Rather it focuses on alleviating the symptoms of the disease, especially reducing the pain.  People of any age can undergo palliative care, among them children suffering from cancer. 

Eliminating Pain

Palliative care does not preclude other medical care.  It is possible, for example, to have one team of doctors alleviating the pain of a child with leukemia, in other words, practicing palliative care, while other specialists focus on curing the child’s disease.

In contrast, hospice care is limited to those who are judged by medical professionals to be at the end of their lives, generally, but not exclusively, the elderly.  The purpose, as with other forms of palliative care, is to eliminate or at least control pain and suffering. 

The promise to the individual who is placed in hospice care is that she will be able to spend her final weeks and days with as much dignity and as little pain as possible.  Hospice care professionals assist the patient with the emotional and spiritual aspects of death as well.

SUMMARY:  Hospice Care and Palliative Care:  What’s the difference?

• Palliative care is designed to alleviate symptoms, especially reducing pain.
• People of any age can receive palliative care, including those who simultaneously receive healing care.
• Hospice is a particular kind of palliative care, limited to those who are judged by medical professionals to be at the end of life but are still in need of pain relief and comfort.

While in hospice or palliative care, your elderly loved one may need companionship care or personal care during this difficult time.  Home Instead Senior Care of Richmond can provide those services and more so that you can have a few less things to worry about.  Simply call our Richmond office at 804.527.1100.  We serve Greater Richmond and Northern Neck, too.

Excerpted from the book, Stages of Senior Care:  Your Step-by-Step Guide to Making the Best Decisions by Paul & Lori Hogan.  Also, credit to National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization.