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Hospice: Serving the Whole Unit—Patient, Family, Friends and Physicians
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Comments (6)Hospice is a service that serves not only the patient, but also their loved ones. In hospice care, we think of the patient, the family and the caregiver as being part of a single unit. The patient’s illness has an indirect impact on every member of the family. Hospice provides support to all parts of the unit. As hospice providers, we understand that part of fulfilling a patient’s needs includes fulfilling their families’ needs as well. Hospice offers respite care to ease the burden on the caregivers, in addition to providing bereavement counseling to family members. While caregivers and family members are an essential part of the decision-making process, oftentimes there are other people involved in the patient’s care. Friends, pastors and even physicians can be considered part of the patient’s unit.
Patients often want their primary physician to be involved in their end-of-life care. This is understandable, considering the number of years patients deal with their physician—especially those who are ill. Patients who want their primary physician involved in decision-making are always accommodated. This tends to be a misconception about hospice care. Although many people think that once you are on hospice you can no longer be treated by your own doctor, it is simply not true. Although hospice agencies have medical directors who are licensed to oversee and prescribe medication, it’s not mandatory that they do so. Hospice patients are free to continue seeing their physician and the hospice agency will work in tandem with that physician to ensure the patient receives quality palliative care.
Spreading the word—
April Smith
Posted in: Hospice Care, Role of Hospice, What to Expect from Hospice
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