Hospice providers will assist the patient and the family to develop an individualized care plan. Hospice focuses on the patient as a whole person—not just the part that is sick. They understand that there is not always one right or wrong answer and that the patient’s needs and wishes may change over time.

Based upon individual and family needs and preferences, hospice care can provide the following:

• Medications, medical supplies, and equipment;
• Expertise in pain management and symptom control;
• Help with the patient’s personal care and hygiene;
• Emotional, social, and spiritual support;
• Education for loved ones on how to care for the patient;
• Short-term inpatient care when pain or symptoms become too difficult to manage at home, or the caregiver needs respite time;
• Special services like speech and physical therapy, if needed;
• Respite care for the caregiver,
• Completion of household chores, giving loved ones a chance to run errands, go out to dinner, take a walk, or nap.
• Bereavement support to surviving loved ones and friends for at least a year.

Research has shown that people would prefer to die in comfortable or familiar surroundings rather than in an institutional setting. Hospice will come to the patient wherever he or she calls home.

Most hospice care is provided at home — with a family member typically serving as the primary caregiver. However, hospice care is also available at hospitals, nursing homes, assisted living facilities, and dedicated hospice facilities.

No matter where hospice care is provided, sometimes it's necessary for the patient to be admitted to a hospital. For instance, if a symptom can't be managed by the hospice care team in a home setting, a hospital stay might be needed.

If you're not receiving hospice care at a dedicated facility, hospice staff will make regular visits to your home or other setting. In many cases, family members or loved ones are the patient’s primary care givers.
Hospice staff is on call 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

A hospice care team typically includes:

• Doctors.
  A primary care doctor and a hospice doctor or medical director will oversee care. Each patient chooses a primary doctor. This can be your prior doctor or a hospice doctor.
• Nurses.
  Nurses will come to your or your relative's home or other setting to provide care. They are also responsible for coordination of the hospice care team.
• Home health aides.
  Home health aides can provide extra support for routine care, such as dressing, bathing, and eating.
• Spiritual counselors.
  Chaplains, priests, lay ministers or other spiritual counselors can provide spiritual care and guidance for the entire family.
• Social workers.
  Social workers provide counseling and support. They can also provide referrals to other support systems.
• Pharmacists.
  Pharmacists provide medication oversight and suggestions regarding the most effective ways to relieve symptoms.
• Volunteers.
  Trained volunteers offer a variety of services, including providing company or respite for caregivers and helping with transportation or other practical needs.
• Other professionals.
  Speech, physical and occupational therapists can provide therapy, if needed.
• Bereavement counselors.
  Trained bereavement counselors offer support and guidance after the death of a loved one in hospice.

So how do you know when it's time for hospice care? Requesting hospice care is a personal decision, but it's important to understand that at a certain point, doing "everything possible" may no longer be helping you. Sometimes the burdens of a treatment outweigh the benefits. Hospice care will help you continue treatments that are maintaining or improving your quality of life. If your illness improves, you can leave hospice care at any time and return if and when you choose.

• The following are some signs that you or a loved one may experience a better quality of life with hospice care:
• The patient has had several trips to the emergency room, and while his/her condition was stabilized, it continues to worsen.
• The patient wishes to remain at home rather than spend time in the hospital.
• The patient is no longer receiving treatments to cure his/her disease.
• Difficulty managing pain;
• Difficulty swallowing and/or a decrease in appetite and/or weight loss;
• Decrease in comprehension and/or increased disorientation or confusion;
• Increased need for assistance with activities of daily living;
• Increased incontinence;
• Recurrent infections;
• Wounds not healing properly;
• Increased edema;
• Increased shortness of breath;
• Decrease in smiling and communication; withdrawal from family and friends.