Hello everybody.
I'm here with Sarah Lowe from Emanuel Hospice.
She will be answering some frequently asked questions
and also clearing up some common misconceptions
that folks might have about hospice care.
Welcome Sarah.
Thank you for having me.
I'm excited to be here today.
Thank you.
Thanks for joining us.
To get started, tell us a little bit about what hospice
care is.
It's a very comprehensive care provided for people
who have serious and terminal disease processes.
And the care is provided by a comprehensive
interdisciplinary team.
And so that for us consists of a physician, nurses,
hospice aid, social workers, music therapist,
acupuncture, acupressure, volunteers,
spiritual care counselors, whatever the person needs
to bring comfort and quality to the end of their life.
So in addition, we provide any medications,
equipment or supplies that are required
to help keep someone comfortable
at this important part of their life.
In addition, we provide grief support services
to anyone in the community.
That's a really important thing for folks to know about us
is that you don't have to be grieving someone
who's accessed our hospice services
to get access to our grief support services.
So a variety of services available.
And one of your frequently asked questions
is how are these services paid for?
Hospice is covered by Medicare and most private
insurances for folks that don't have any insurer.
As a nonprofit provider in our community,
we do have access to funds to cover the cost of care
for folks who don't have access to any other payer source.
Very good.
So next, hospice is not necessarily a physical place.
Let's talk about where does the hospice care occur?
So hospice translated means respite for the weary traveler.
And that's exactly what we seek to do for folks
is to provide them with some comfort and some respite
on a journey that can be particularly difficult.
And so we provide care wherever the individual calls home.
So if that's a private home, if that's your daughter's home,
if that is an assisted living, a skilled nursing,
or even if you don't have a home,
that doesn't mean that you can't get access
to hospice support.
So wherever that is for the individual that needs the support.
So another frequently asked question,
does hospice mean that you're giving up hope?
You know, one of our social workers described this to me
best once, that hospice isn't giving up hope,
it's changing the hope.
So it's changing the hope from the next test result
or the next CT scan result to the hope of what living
will look like until we die.
So whether that goal means hope
for holding that next great grandchild
or getting up to that cabin up north,
we really seek to have people see hospice
as a service that helps you to focus on the living
until you die, not just on the fact that you're dying.
So we don't look at it as giving up hope
or that there's no other options.
We believe that this is a really important treatment option
for folks who have life limiting conditions and diseases.
When is the right time to start talking about this?
You know, you've mentioned a variety of situations here.
When is the best time to talk about hospice care?
Yeah, so we hope that people will start talking about
what do you want the end of your life to look like
at all stages of life,
not just when you're 80
or not just when you get a serious diagnosis,
but that it's something we talk about as a community.
What do we want the end of our life to look like
because it's something that we all will face?
If you do have a diagnosis that is serious
or life limiting, ultimately,
that's a time to start thinking about hospice
as a potential treatment option.
Just because you start thinking about it
or get information about it doesn't mean
that has to be the day you sign on to that.
Hospice care is done best when we're able to provide it
over weeks or months versus days or hours.
And so getting information earlier
and then each individual decides when that time is right for them.
What do you think about that?
Absolutely.
You're just trying to encourage a culture where
we're talking about this more.
Things are planned ahead.
It's comforting both to the individual
and to your family and friends.
Absolutely.
I really believe preparing in advance for this certainty
for all of us is an incredible gift that we give
to the people who survive us once we're gone.
People who've had an intentional conversation with family
and friends about what their wishes are
versus caring for folks that there has been no dialogue
about what that might look like.
Do we have a choice about what hospice we might choose?
Is a referral needed from a doctor?
Yeah, absolutely.
You have a choice about what hospice you choose.
And a lot of folks now are talking to more than one provider
to see what's the right fit for them.
It's a really intimate type of care,
so it's really important that you evaluate
and make sure that the culture of the organization
matches what your wishes and preferences and priorities are
for your treatment and care at the end of your life.
Sure.
Thanks for providing that information
and clearing up a lot of these frequently asked questions.
Thanks for having me and giving me the opportunity to do that.
Yeah, sure.
Just tell us closing where folks can go to get more information.
And I understand also that your phone line is open 24-7,
so folks can reach out with questions anytime.
Yes.
Please call us or visit our website anytime of the day.
We will respond to phone calls immediately and get back
to any online inquiries within a couple of days.
Very good.
Well, thanks again for coming in today.
And thanks for providing all of this information for our
audience.
Yeah, thank you.
Be sure to check out Immanuel Hospice's website if you would
like to learn more information.
Thanks for joining us today.
