Does Hospice Help People Live Longer?

A consistent body of research shows that hospice tends to extend life by days to months. People who choose hospice tend to live longer than people who do not. People who receive hospice at home tend to live longer than people who receive hospice in only inpatient settings.

Studies:

1. Hamano J, Yamaguchi T, Maeda I, et al. Multicenter cohort study on the survival time of cancer patients dying at home or in a hospital: Does place matter? Cancer. 2016 May; 122 (9): 1453-60.
2. Huo J, Lairson D, Du X, et al. Survival and cost-effectiveness of hospice care for metastatic melanoma patients. The American Journal of Managed Care. 2014; 20 (5): 366-373.
3. Saito A, Landrum M, Neville B, et al. Hospice care and survival among elderly patients with lung cancer. J Palliat Med. 2011; 14 (8): 929-939.
4. Keyser E, Reed B, Lowery W, et al. Hospice enrollment for terminally ill patients with gynecologic malignancies: impact on outcomes and interventions. Gynecol Oncol. 2010: 118 (3): 274-7.
5. Connor S, Pyenson B, Fitch K, et al. Comparing hospice and nonhospice patient survival among patients who die within a three-year window. J Pain Symptom Manage. 2007 Mar; 33(3): 238-46.
6. Christakis N, Iwashyna T, Zhang J. Care after the onset of serious illness: a novel claims-based dataset exploiting substantial cross-set linkages to study end-of-life care. J Palliat Med. 2002; 5: 515-529.
7. Christakis N. Predicting patient survival before and after hospice enrollment. Hosp J. 1998; 13: 71-87.
8. Connor S. Hospice: Practice, pitfalls, and promise. Philadelphia, PA: Taylor and Francis, 1998. 118-119.
9. Forster L, Lynn J. The use of physiologic measures and demographic variables to predict longevity among inpatient hospice applicants. Am J Hosp Care. 1989; 6: 31-34.

Does Medicare Pay for Hospice? How about Medicare Advantage, Medicaid, or Commercial Insurances?

Almost all health insurance has some sort of coverage for hospice. To qualify, patients generally need to have a prognosis of six months or less.

Does Hospice Help with Diseases Other than Cancer?

Yes. Passionate Care Hospice can help patients with most life-limiting illnesses. Cancer tends to make up 35% of hospice cases. Passionate Care Hospice also helps patients with COPD, end-stage renal, lung, or heart disease, strokes, neurological disorders, and many more conditions.

Is Hospice Delivered at Home or Facilities?

While hospice facilities exist, the majority of hospice services across Georgia are delivered by visiting nurses. Our nurses can visit any place you call home. Our care team will come to you, providing all of the necessary supplies, equipment, and medications. We can also arrange short-term inpatient stays if needed for close supervision or to supplement the personal care usually provided by family.

How Will I Know My Wishes Will be Honored?

In surveys, families receiving home hospice prove most likely to state care is delivered in ways consistent with the patient’s wishes and beliefs. At Passionate Care Hospice, we are careful to learn each patient’s beliefs and preferences. You are in control of your care. This includes the freedom to discharge yourself from hospice at any time, pursue other treatment plans, and even to return to hospice if needed later.

Has My Doctor Given Up on Me?

Your doctor has always been concerned about giving you the longest possible life and the highest health-related quality of life. A referral to hospice is part of that. Hospice care is associated with life lengthened by days and months when it is used after all reasonable curative treatments have been applied. Hospice also improves quality of life for patients and bereavement outcomes for family. Hospice is certainly not about giving up hope. Hospice is a way to embrace hope for a higher quality of life during a very important time of life.

What If I Change My Mind?

Patients may discharge themselves from hospice at any time. Perhaps they begin feeling better and want to resume curative therapies, or a new therapy becomes available. Some patients simply get better, outlive their prognosis, and no longer qualify for hospice. These patients are sometimes referred to as “hospice graduates.”

How Does Hospice Help the Family?

Family members commonly report that caring for a loved one facing a terminal illness is an important part of the process for them, too. However, this is also known to be hard on a family caregiver. Our nurses help train family caregivers in how to deliver care and what to expect as the disease progresses. Our aides and volunteers lighten the load with help around the house and help with your loved one. Our team provides emotional and spiritual support as needed as well. This support continues as bereavement support for up to 13 months.

When Should I Choose Hospice?

This is a highly personal decision. However, hospice is designed for the last six months of life. People who use hospice in the last weeks of life get some benefits but not all. For instance, research shows that hospice can control burdensome symptoms to a point that the symptoms feel rolled back by a year. This effect, though, ramps up over time. Hospice tends to need three months to achieve this level of symptom control. Similarly, improved outcomes in quality of life, emotional support, and other aspects of hospice care work better with more time in hospice.

Hospice may help you live longer!

According to a study in the Journal of Pain and Symptom Management, hospice can extend a client’s life by an average of 29 days. This is done with attentive management of symptoms while also caring for physical and emotional well-being. These tools can often provide the will to live longer.

Hospice is covered by insurance.

Hospice is a benefit that is covered by Medicaid, Medicare, and most private insurances. It is primarily for those who have a life expectancy of 6 months or less if we allow the disease to progress through its natural course.

Hospice is not only for cancer.

Hospice cares for a wide variety of diseases and illnesses. It is for those who have decided to no longer pursue a cure for their illness and are instead seeking more comfort care and symptom management aimed at maintaining optimal quality of life. Examples of some of these diseases include COPD, end-stage renal, lung, or heart disease, strokes, neurological disorders, and many more.

Hospice can take place in your humble abode!

More than 90% of patients are cared for at home, in their own environment and surrounded by loved ones. Our care team will come to you, providing all of the necessary supplies, equipment, and medications. Inpatient settings are more commonly used for short term circumstances where a patient requires more complicated or intricate care that cannot be provided in another setting, or when a caregiver needs some rest.

You are in control.

The end of life is a very personal and sensitive experience and requires a lot of medical needs. Our goal is to know what is most important to you. You retain autonomy and we work together to create a care plan tailored to you.

Hospice does NOT mean giving up all care!

Hospice is simply a shift from obtaining a cure to focusing on maintaining the most optimal quality of life for the time that you do have left.

You can always change your mind.

Your needs and goals may change and that is totally fine. Should you choose to return to seeking aggressive medical treatment, then hospice may not be for you. There are certain qualifications for hospice, but you can also opt out at any time. Should you choose to return and meet the qualifications, we will always welcome you back with open arms.

Hospice is not only for you, but for your family too!

We provide care and management to you, but is also helps to lessen the burden of care and sadness of death. We can provide up to 13 months of bereavement support at no additional cost to the families of loved ones. We understand that this is all a process and want to help at such an important time.

In order to benefit from hospice care, it is important to seek it as early as you can. We are always available to answer any further questions that you may have to assist you in this process.