LIVING & DYING
Palliative Care is appropriate for people at any stage of serious illness and is provided alongside treatments aimed at curing disease. A Palliative Care team includes a physician, advanced practice nurse, social worker and an optional chaplain. Palliative Care does not mean the patient is dying. It is not the same as Hospice. If/when there are no treatments left, the Palliative Care team can help transition to Hospice.
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Advance care planning is not just about old age. At any age, a medical crisis could leave you too ill to make your own healthcare decisions. Even if you are not sick now, planning for health care in the future is an important step toward making sure you get the medical care you would want, if you are unable to speak for yourself and doctors and family members are making the decisions for you.
Hospice care is a Medicare-covered benefit for people whose doctors believe they are in the last six months of life, and who want to stop treatments targeting their disease – such as chemotherapy for cancer – to focus on comfort.
Hospice focuses on adding more quality of life to your years than time. Hospice can be discontinued if health improves.
The Hospice team offers the same range of support and resources as the Palliative team when end of life is the focus.
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An advance healthcare directive, also known as living will, personal directive, advance directive, medical directive or advance decision, is a legal document in which a person specifies what actions should be taken for their health if they are no longer able to make decisions for themselves because of illness or incapacity.
It is used as part of End of Life Planning.
Transition Helpers are non-medical persons trained to care for someone holistically (physically, emotionally and spiritually) at the end of life. Their aim is to accompany the dying and their families anywhere from serious illness diagnosis, patient advocacy, advance health care directives to what to expect at various stages of the end of life. Their aim is to help make this process less fearful and more peaceful. They can give more time and support the Hospice team.
Extensive observations, tips and recommendations to support the dying and their families during the last months to days of life.