Hospice Myths and MisconceptionsLearning the Truth about Hospice |
Myth |
Reality |
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| Choosing hospice means giving up hope. |
Hospice celebrates life. Hospice is an opportunity to capture dignity in a challenging time for both the patient and the family. Hospice works to provide comfort and promotes an opportunity to bond emotionally and spiritually. Hospice improves the quality of life. |
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| Hospice is a place where the ill go to die. |
Hospice is not a place but a concept of care. This care allows families to be together when they need it the most, assisting the remaining days in peace and quality of life through comfort care with dignity maintained. |
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| Patients must reside in their home to receive hospice care. |
Most hospice care is provided at home, however, hospice care can also be given in a nursing home, assisted living facility, personal care home or hospital. |
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| To qualify for the hospice benefit a patient must be bedridden. |
Hospice care is appropriate at the time of the terminal prognosis of less than six months, regardless of the patient's physical condition. Hospice encourages patients to be as physically active as long as possible. Hospice patients do not have to be home bound. |
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| Hospice is only for people with cancer. |
The hospice benefit is for all end stage terminal diagnosis which includes cancer. This includes, but is not restricted to, such life-limiting illnesses as Alzheimer's, CHF, Parkinson's, COPD, Dementia, ALS, AIDS and kidney failure. |
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| Once a patient is involved with hospice he/she can no longer receive care from their familiy doctor. |
We encourage our hospice patients to continue to visit their primary physician whenever they desire. We welcome and encourage the comfort, knowledge and support the family physician provides to our patients. |
