Don’t Just Endure Hospice Care: Embrace It

For residents of Cedar Rapids and elsewhere who aren’t familiar with hospice care, there are often a lot of questions about how it all works and how different it is different than traditional health care.

The team at Above and Beyond Health Care and Hospice are great at answering these questions, as well as educating potential clients about what the modern hospice program is all about, as well as doing their best to reduce any fears of the unknown about something that could feel new and potentially different.

Each person may have their own concerns, assumptions, or simply unknowns when thinking about what hospice means, which we’re always happy to address. This gives us a chance to present details of what our program is all about, as well as hospice care in general.

Though nurses and medical practitioners have been helping people with death for generations, the modern Western hospice movement had its start in the 1960s and ramped up in the 1970s.

The National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization said it took a while for the concept of specialized care and dignity in death to catch on in the medical and educational communities as well as in organizations that establish and govern policies and provide funding. Then the public had to be aware of it as a legitimate option too.

Although the first hospice in the U.S. was founded in Connecticut in 1974, health benefits for hospice care weren’t available until the mid-1980s during the AIDS crisis, when many people were given months to live and not a lot of options.

This effort of early hospice pioneers included educating people about the alternatives available at the end of their life, as well as teaching different roles and responsibilities to medical personnel. For instance, prior to the hospice movement, it was common for people to die in a hospital and for doctors to continually perform tests and procedures until the patient’s death, no matter how invasive or painful.

Hospice offered alternative options for people who had little time left due to terminal diseases. If they and their family chose, they could sometimes die at home surrounded by loved ones. Their doctors could focus less on “trying to help them get better” and more on helping their pain and quality of life in their final days.

Some communities created hospice centers, where people can go to receive optimal palliative care with nurses, doctors, medical staff, and other resources available. Other communities have nurses and other home health care aides who perform outreach and visit clients and their families at home on a regular or as-needed basis.

This type of care and service is welcomed by many: it’s much more personal and less clinical than traditional care, and elements of this care can also be unique for each client. Though no part of death is pleasant, the hospice process tries to help people deal with it easier along with those around them.

Why hospice can be embraced

Another part of the appeal of the hospice is that it provides opportunities for people to get everything together as they approach death.

True, hospitals may encourage people to “put their affairs in order” toward the end, but a big part of the hospice can be having the time and peace of mind to work on all sorts of details, sometimes at one’s own pace or comfort level.

This isn’t just the little details of preparing funeral arrangements or a few final instructions. Though some things like finalizing paperwork and double-checking your will are important, hospice can often provide the opportunity to take care of other more personal tasks.

Resolve past issues with family members? Re-connect with old friends? Talk to religious leaders about mortality and what could be after death.  All of these things are possible. Social workers can even be brought in to talk to clients and family members about some of the challenges that could be ahead, from procedural/financial to emotional.

Even spending time in silence with loved ones can be valuable for the client as well as those around them.

Part of emphasizing quality of life is encouraging people to do some things that they might not have done earlier in life or even removing some medical restrictions that may have been in place while they were under a traditional provider’s care.

Some people who have moved to hospice care have talked about the freedom they felt. Though the ending is still coming, they feel freer to do what they want.

Focusing on a client’s well-being can include encouraging them to do things to make themselves feel good and boost their health, such as taking walks or similar light-impact exercises.

For instance, activities like yoga or tai chi can be relaxing as well as stimulating.

September is actually National Yoga Month, an opportunity to learn more about its mental and physical benefits. It’s easy to get started and something that just about everyone can do to some degree, even if it’s basic stretching while seated.