Hospice of the Pines

What is Hospice Care?

Hospice is a specialty of care that provides comfort to those who have a limited life expectancy of 6 months or less if the disease follows its normal course. The focus is on the patient and their wishes for quality of life that is provided by an interdisciplinary team of professionals. This includes not just the needs of the patient, but also the family, caregivers, and loved ones.

How much does Hospice Care cost?

Hospice care is a Medicare benefit, which includes all costs related to the hospice diagnosis. The patient will not be billed for any hospice services. Hospice of the Pines accepts a number of insurance plans which vary based on your policy. Regardless of your inability to pay, Hospice of the Pines will assist you in getting the care you need.

Do I lose my Medicare if I choose Hospice?

No, you still keep your Medicare for medical care that is not related to the Hospice diagnosis.

Is Hospice a place?

No, hospice is not a place but a type of care that is provided in your home. Your home can be in an assisted living center, a skilled nursing center, or a care home.

Is all Hospice Care the same?

No, hospice care is not the same. The Medicare Hospice Benefit is the same for all hospice agencies but not all hospices provide the same services. You have a choice in what Hospice you choose. We have many hospices in Yavapai County. When choosing a Hospice ask about frequency and length of visits, what supplies and equipment are covered, and what medicines are covered. Interview several hospices to find the one that meets your family’s needs. 

You also have the right to change hospices.

Do I keep my doctor?

If you choose, you can keep your Primary Physician. The Hospice of the Pines Medical Director will participate in your care as well. If you prefer not to have your primary physician follow, you can have our Hospice Medical Director be your physician while under Hospice care. We will be happy to keep your primary care physician informed of your medical condition if you would like us to.

What are the levels of care provided?

The Medicare Hospice Benefit requires that Medicare certified hospices provide four levels of hospice care:

Routine Hospice Care:   The most common level of hospice care. A routine home care day is a day on which an individual who has elected to receive hospice care is at their residence, including a private residence, Assisted Living Facility or Skilled Nursing Facility.

Continuous Home Care:   Care provided for up to 24 hours a day to manage pain and other acute medical symptoms. Continuous home care services must be predominately nursing care, supplemented with homemaker and hospice aide services and are intended to maintain the patient at home during a pain or symptom crisis.

General Inpatient Care:   Provided for pain control or other acute symptom management that cannot feasibly be provided in any other setting. General Inpatient Care is started when other efforts to manage symptoms have been ineffective. General Inpatient Care cannot be provided in a private residence or an assisted living facility. General Inpatient Care can be provided in a Medicare certified facility that has a registered nurse available 24 hours a day to provide direct patient care.

Inpatient Respite Care:   Available to provide a break to the patient’s primary caregiver.   Respite care can be provided in Medicare certified facility. Respite care is provided for a maximum of 5 consecutive days.

How can I learn more about Hospice Care?

Give us a call at 928-632-0111 or 1-877-632-0111.   We can answer your questions over the phone or send a Hospice of the Pines team member to your home.

When can I call Hospice of the Pines?

We are available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year.   A hospice team member is always just a phone call away.

Visit us online @ www.hospiceofthepines.com 

Compassus Hospice & Palliative Care Advanced Care Planning

ADVANCE CARE PLANNING

CREATING A ROAD MAP FOR YOUR HEALTHCARE

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT ADVANCE DIRECTIVES

Imagine you are in the intensive care unit of a hospital, suddenly stricken by a life-limiting illness that has left you unable to communicate with your caregivers or loved ones. Despite the best medical care available, your physician expresses that it is unlikely you will leave the hospital alive. They can, however, prolong your breathing and heart function temporarily by using artificial life support.

Is this the kind of treatment you would want for yourself? Do you want to leave these and other important healthcare decisions up to your loved ones or healthcare providers with no guidance from you?

Scenarios like the one mentioned above occur all too often. While most of us strive to be in control of every aspect of our lives, many people haven’t prepared to be in control of what happens to them near the end of life. A recent study showed 60 percent of individuals aged 18 and older wanted their end-of-life wishes to be respected, however only about a third of them had made their wishes known by completing advance directives. An advance directive offers guidance for future healthcare decisions in the event you cannot make them for yourself.

Charting a roadmap for your healthcare by completing an advance directive puts you in charge of the care you want to receive and how your healthcare dollars are spent. What’s more, it alleviates painful decisions and confusion for your loved ones. An advance directive is a statement of patient preferences that explains to everyone else: This is what I do (and do not) want to keep me going – and even more importantly, who will speak for me when I can’t.

According to the Congressional Research Service, more Americans are dying in the hospital (58%) or nursing homes (20%) than at home (22%). However, a recent Gallop poll revealed that 88 percent of adults would prefer to die in their homes surrounded by loved ones.

Have you communicated to your family about where you want to spend your final days?

It is also estimated that more than 25 percent of all healthcare dollars spent in a patient’s lifetime are spent during the final months. Nearly 30 percent of all Medicare dollars are paid during the last year of life with more than 50 percent of that amount going to acute care hospitals. This money is often spent to keep a patient alive far past the hope of recovery.

Have you made a plan for how you want your healthcare dollars spent?

While talking about end-of-life healthcare decisions can be a difficult, it is ultimately a conversation about life and letting your loved ones know how to you wish to live your remaining days. By creating a road map for your care and putting your plan in writing, you can help your loved ones accurately remember your plan and provide clear communication to healthcare providers.

To learn more about advance care planning, visit the site below or print the helpful wallet card to advise others of your healthcare decisions.

It’s not easy to talk about how you want the end of your life to be. But it’s one of the most important conversations you can have with your loved ones. The Conversation Project website has a Starter Kit that will help you get your thoughts together and then have the conversation. This Starter Kit will help you start the conversation with your loved ones about what you or they want for end-of-life care. Compassus hopes this kit will help to empower you to be in charge of the care you want to receive.

Visit us online @ www.compassus.com 

Tips & Tools for Family Caregivers

Caring for aging parents can be very rewarding. It can also be hard work!

From helping with errands, to cooking, to eventually even bathing or helping your loved one eat, elder care will call on your time and tug on your heartstrings. Even if all you do is phone your parent more often than before, it is one more thing added to your already busy life.

You are a family caregiver.

The average family caregiver will spend 4.3 years actively assisting an ailing relative. With that in mind, you need to pace yourself. And you need to get help.

Many adult children fall into the understandable trap of believing they have to do it all themselves.The more constructive approach, however, is to think in terms of working as part of a team. As the saying goes, “A joy shared is twice the gladness; a grief shared is half the sorrow.” Working with others requires coordinating. But you will not be so exhausted trying to shoulder it all yourself.

To begin with, you and your family member are a team. Even if he or she needs lots of your help, when all is said and done, it is your older relative’s life. Negotiating the dance of when to lead and when to follow is part of the elder care journey. Good communication with your family member, and knowing how to set limits will be important skills to develop.

If you have brothers and sisters, it is optimal if all of you can collaborate to share in the care of your parents. Easy to say, not necessarily easy to do!

You can also team up with professionals in the field of aging. Often with professional expertise they can quickly and easily accomplish something that could take you many frustrating days. Plus, because they know the local service providers, they can save you time in matching your needs and resources with the providers best suited to your situation.

Below are tips and tools that can help you in your elder care journey:

• Your changing role
• Coping with stress
• Dealing with family
• Educating yourself
• Finding help

Visit us online @ www.agingwellprescott.com