Hospice Care

Time has passed and I finally have time to reflect on the passing of a number of older friends. One of aspect of care that I learned about was hospice care at home. Hospice care sounds wonderful until you become involved. Volunteers and staff provide practical, emotional, and spiritual support in collaboration with family caregivers, health care providers and community support agencies. This sounds wonderful . Hospice volunteers give an average of 4 hours care a week. How many hours of hospice care is a patient allowed? A question, I would love to have answered by various Hospice associations. In a week, I don't think that the hours amount to very many. I have a feeling that all the other agencies mentioned in the list are expected to come to the table and provide the majority of care. Someone or some agency is still expected to provide coordination. In many cases, the coordinators will be the family. In the situation that I was involved in, it was a team of care givers. Three of us coordinated care on a 24 hour basis. What a learning experience. After a period of time, we had a greater appreciation of what agencies are able to offer and how much must be paid for.