Before cremation services offered in Shelby Charter Township, MI, you may be wondering if it is time to get hospice care on board for your loved one who has a terminal illness. Although many people think of hospice care as being something you do just before your loved one dies, the fact is that hospice care for the duration of your loved one’s terminal illness will give them a better quality of life and a dignified, pain-free death when the end comes.

Criteria for hospice care is that your loved one must have six or less months to live because of their terminal illness. When your loved one enters hospice care, all curative treatment for their terminal illness will be stopped, either because it isn’t effective (i.e., it won’t change the outcome) or because your loved one no longer wants to receive treatment.

Hospice care will manage the symptoms of your loved one’s terminal illness, ensuring that pain is well managed and that their quality of life is the best that it can be. This is commonly known as comfort care, and it is provided for your loved one instead of aggressive interventions to try to treat their terminal illness.

Since terminal illnesses don’t always progress according to predictive outcomes, your loved one may live longer than six months after entering hospice care. Hospice care can be continued with a simple recertification by their physician that states that they are eligible to receive hospice.

Your loved one’s hospice care is covered by most private health insurance plans, Medicare, and Medicaid. However, most non-profit hospice care agencies will provide hospice services to your loved one, regardless of whether they have insurance, or they are able to pay for their services.

If you want to begin hospice care for your terminally ill loved one, you can simply call a local hospice care agency. Once you contact the hospice care agency, they often begin providing care within a few days.

Hospice care agencies strive to make your loved one’s transition from life to death as easy and as comfortable as it can be. The hospice care agency will create a care plan for your loved one that addresses emotional and physical pain. If your loved one wishes, the hospice care agency can also address their spiritual needs in their care plan.

Hospice care for your loved one can be provided in their or your home, which is usually the preference of most hospice patients because they are in familiar and comfortable surroundings with their family nearby.

A hospice care team will be assigned to your loved one, but they are there to meet both your loved one’s needs and you and your family’s needs as you care for your terminally ill loved one. The team can include a supervising hospice physician, nurses, a pharmacist, a grief counselor, a social worker, home health aides, a chaplain, and volunteers who can provide short periods of respite for you and your family.

Pain management is a key part of hospice care. As your loved one’s terminal illness progresses, pain will increase. Hospice care team members will make sure that your loved one suffers as little as possible and is as comfortable as possible.

Quality of life enhancement is another key part of hospice care. If your loved one is having trouble breathing, for example, oxygen therapy will be provided. Any other medical equipment and medical supplies, such as hospital beds, pressure pads (to prevent bed sores), and gloves are also provided by hospice.

Hospice care will ensure that your loved one gets the best care possible and that their transition from life to death is the easiest that it can be.

For information about cremation services in Shelby Charter Township, MI, our caring and knowledgeable staff at Lee-Ellena Funeral is here to assist you.