Surprising Facts About Hospice Care

Hospice care is a type of healthcare that provides relief and emotional support to terminally ill patients before cremation services Bethlehem, PA. However, many patients are reluctant to contact hospice care due to prevalent misconceptions surrounding it. 

As such many patients couldn’t get the critical benefits of hospice care. If your loved one is suffering from an incurable disease and you’re confused about whether or not to get this service, just look at these surprising facts.   

It Doesn’t Mean Giving Up 

First and foremost, calling hospice is not giving up by any means. Giving utmost emotional care to a patient doesn’t imply losing the hopes of them getting better. By careful management and treatment of symptoms, hospice care prioritizes fulfills the emotional needs of the patients. 

People often picture hospices as getting a high dosage of painkillers and drugs to make patients sleep most of the time, but it’s far from reality. Giving pain relief is indeed among the services of hospices but it primarily focuses on providing all the equipment and care to provide comfort to the patient. Statistics prove that hospice care extends life an average of 29 days. 

Hospice Can be at Home or any Private Place 

Many people have a misunderstanding that hospice care is given in some hospital or designated medical facility, but it’s not true. Hospice is just the name of care, not a place. 

Patients can receive hospice care anywhere they want, be it a private house, church, apartment, or within a retirement community. 

Hospice Care isn’t Time-Bound 

A common notion is that hospice care is for the people who are in the last stages of life and have no hope left for life. Some believe that it has a 6-month time limit. 

All such myths are based on preposterous assumptions and a patient can receive hospice care for as long as he/she wants. One can also quit hospice care anytime they want and can resume it at any stage of life. There is no time constraint whatsoever. 

Hospice Care Doesn’t End Regular Medication 

A patient can continue visiting his doctor or have regular checkups even during hospice care. The very goal of the latter is to manage the symptoms and provide the best quality of life and comfort. 

A person remains in charge of his/her medical life and does whatever is recommended by doctors. It offers services on the ‘la Carta basis’, that is, you get the services you want. 

• Some of the services include: 

• Counseling facilities 

• Home visits by medical practitioners or nurses 

• Symptoms identification and management 

• Pain relief 

• Medical supplies 

• Access to medical aides for assistance in bathing, clothing, eating, etc. 

• Medical equipment such as oxygen tanks and hospital beds 

• It is Affordable, Covered Benefit 

With the multitude of services it offers, hospice care is perceived to be very expensive and a prerogative of the rich. The reality is just the opposite. As of writing these lines, Hospice care is covered by Medicare in 43 states, so many patients can qualify for it for little to no cost. When you’re thinking about cremation services Bethlehem, PA, it’s time to think about how your loved one wants to live the last of their life.