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Hospice care
For more than 35 years, the growth of the hospice movement in the U.S. has shaped new ways of thinking about death, dying and bereavement. It has also provided an alternative for care of patients who are in the final stages of a terminal illness like mesothelioma.
What is Hospice?
Contrary to a common belief, hospice is not a place. Although a mesothelioma patient may receive hospice care in a hospital, nursing home or dedicated hospice facility, most patients--about 90%--prefer to live their final days in the comfort of their home.
Hospice is, rather, a unique philosophy of care that focuses on quality of life rather than length of life. When all treatment options have been exhausted and there is no hope for a cure, a hospice program for mesothelioma can provide a patient with something called palliative care. The main goal of palliative care is to improve the patient's well-being by easing pain and resolving psychological problems.
Hospice Services for Mesothelioma Patients
With mesothelioma hospice care, professional staff and volunteers are available around the clock to ease the patient's transition through the final stages of life. Hospice programs use a multi-dimensional approach which may include any or all of the following services:
- Pain and symptom control. Keeping the mesothelioma patient comfortable and pain-free is the primary goal of hospice care.
- Spiritual care. While not a religious program in itself, hospice offers support for mesothelioma patients and families in meeting their spiritual and religious needs. These needs are often important to people who are facing the end of life.
- Home care or inpatient care. In general, hospice strives to help terminally ill patients remain at home. However, if inpatient care is needed temporarily, hospice staff works with hospital staff to ensure continued care.
- Respite care. Providing constant care for a seriously ill patient can put a tremendous strain on a family. When a break is needed, hospice can provide respite - or "relief" - care in a hospital or other inpatient facility. This allows the family a few days of rest and relaxation.
- Bereavement care. Hospice care is for families as well as patients. After a hospice patient dies, specially trained members of the hospice care team are available for a year or more to help surviving family members through their grief.
- Supportive care. Supportive care is a general term that utilized aspects of palliative treatment methods used by most hospices while also providing care for familiy members of the patient who are likely being affected emotionally by the diagnosis as well.
Hospice staff and volunteers provide many other services as well, such as education on death and dying or assisting families with daily care of the patient. With great compassion and empathy, these dedicated people help victims of mesothelioma and other terminal illnesses to face death with acceptance and dignity. This is done by helping these individuals focus on living each remaining day as fully as possible.
To learn more about coping with the physical and emotional symptoms of mesothelioma, click here.
Hospice care centers and sources for more information
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