Making crucial choices is necessary if you or a loved one has to deal with life after receiving a serious diagnosis. Your doctor may discuss palliative care or hospice care in your discussions as you begin to understand this new situation. It’s difficult to choose the best care choice for an elderly loved one. The best care choice for the elderly member of your home must be chosen after taking into account the demands of your loved one and the advantages and disadvantages of different care options. Although palliative care and hospice are two distinct nursing specialties, each with its own philosophy and methods of care, they are occasionally used interchangeably in the medical field. Choosing the appropriate degree of care might be made easier by understanding the specific characteristics between hospice and palliative care. The similarities and differences between various types of care are described below.
Similarities Between Palliative Care and Hospice
- Specialists of hospice and palliative care collaborate with patients and their families to ensure that their objectives of care — including choices about life-sustaining or life-prolonging treatments—are respected.
- Together, patients and medical staff create a personalized treatment plan to fully attend to each patient’s needs—physical, psychological, social, and spiritual.
- An interdisciplinary approach is necessary for both palliative care and hospice care, with an emphasis on addressing physical and psychosocial symptoms while enhancing the patient’s life quality.
- To the extent that the patient desires, they involve the patient’s family in their care. Additionally, they provide family members with support services such as bereavement counseling and disease support groups.
- Both can take place in many different places, such as a home, hospital, or long-term care institution.
Differences:
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Goal of care
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- Palliative: While receiving medical therapy for their sickness, a patient may also continue to get curative care, or care that makes them feel better physically, mentally, and spiritually.
- Hospice: Their objective is to make you feel better and make the most of the time you have left, not to find a cure for their condition.
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Eligibility
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- Palliative: Individuals of any age and stage of condition, whether it be curable, persistent, or life-threatening.
- Hospice: An individual is qualified for hospice care under the Medicare Hospice Benefit if two doctors agree that they have six months or less to live if their terminal condition progresses as expected.
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Site of Care
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- Palliative: Home, outpatient clinics, hospital, extended care facility.
- Hospice: Home, inpatient hospice unit, extended care facility.
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Period of care
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- Palliative: Occurs on an as-needed basis, so a patient might only receive it intermittently when their conditions call for further care.
- Hospice: Provides care till a patient’s death. A person receiving hospice care may also continue to get specialized treatment for any other illnesses they may develop.
Finding the best choice for your loved one is crucial as this is a major decision. Assessing your loved one’s individual medical requirements and attempting to have an open and honest talk regarding what would be ideal for them will help you decide where is the best location for them. You can trust Sugar Land Health Care Center to provide your loved one with high-quality care. We offer both palliative and hospice care services. You can contact us today at (281) 491-2226 to learn more.