Facts about hospice care you might not know

Considered to be the model for high-quality, compassionate care at the end of life, hospice care involves a team-oriented approach to care that includes expert medical care, pain-and-symptom management, and emotional and spiritual support. All care is expressly tailored to the patient’s needs and wishes.

Hospice offers the services and support that Americans want when coping with a serious or life-limiting illness.

The goal of this type of care is to treat the person instead of the disease, and focus on the family caregivers, not just the individual.  The quality of life is emphasized, not its duration.

Just the Facts: National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization* reports:

• Hospice usage in the U.S. is growing. Every year, more than 1.6 to 1.7 million Americans with life-limiting illness are cared for by the nation’s hospice providers.

• The median length of service for hospice patients is 17.4 days (half of patients receive care for more days, half of patients receive care for fewer days).   Yet, more than 35 percent of patients die or are discharged in seven days or less – too short a time to benefit from the full ranges of services a hospice can offer.

• Cancer accounts for 36.6 percent of hospice patients – which surprises many people who mistakenly think hospice only serves cancer patients. The five other leading diagnoses are: heart disease, debility, dementia (this includes Alzheimer’s disease), lung disease, and stroke.

• Hospice is covered under Medicare, Medicaid, most private insurance plans, HMOs and other managed care organizations.

• An estimated 430,000 trained volunteers contribute more than 19 million hours of service every year.

• Research shows that 8 out of 10 Americans would want to stay in their homes surrounded by family and loved ones if they were faced with a life-limiting illness. Hospice makes this happen.   

For more information or to find a hospice in your area, visit www.MomentsofLife.org or call the NHPCO HelpLine at 800-658-8898.

* Download the NHPCO report, Facts and Figures: Hospice Care in America, 2015 edition.