When you’re sick, being at home is comforting. That can be the same case when it comes to hospice care. Home hospice can be an option to consider if you or a loved one is in need of that type of care. Jill Nuebel the agency manager of Avera@Home Home Care explains what it looks like.
What is hospice?
Our primary goal of hospice is to minimize a patient’s pain and discomfort and then provide with whatever we can to provide quality of life. It’s always for a patient whose illness cannot be cured, so something they’ve been told they can receive treatment for but not curative treatments.
When could someone choose home hospice?
When patients and families can get to the point where they understand what they are going through is not something that can be fixed and that we can be there to help them create quality of life, so focusing on the things that are important to them and in a place that’s important to them. Not every patient can stay at home, but being able to be at home and cared for in your home, choosing to do the things that you want to do, whether that’s what you want to eat, or you want to go out if you’re able to some event, and not spending your time at doctor appointments and in the hospital and in those places that don’t feel good. You get to be at home and be with your family and the people who love you.
Are more people over time choosing home hospice?
I think home hospice is definitely a very popular choice. It’s probably the most popular choice that we have. Unfortunately not every patient can stay at home, they don’t have the resources or the family who can take time off work or be with them, but when those things are in place and the patient is safe and they have 24 hour care, it is absolutely almost everyone’s choice to be at home.
