Doreen McGettigan

We Honor Veterans:  A Mission to Serve

 One in four dying Americans is a veteran. That’s why America’s hospice professionals are on a mission to learn how to serve Veterans through the challenges they may be facing from illness, isolation or traumatic life experience

 America’s Veterans have done everything asked of them in their mission to serve our country. Hospice believes it is never too late to give them a hero’s welcome home. Now it is time that we step up, acquire the necessary skills and fulfill our mission to serve these men and women with the dignity they deserve.

 Hospice professionals across the country focus on a single purpose: to provide comfort and support at the end of life.

The goal of Hospice is to keep you comfortable and improve your quality of life, while you are dying. Services are offered in your home or in a Hospice Center. Their philosophy is the complete opposite of the usual medical community which is to cure you in an institutional setting.

Dying people retain some dignity and a sense of control when they are in a familiar, comfortable setting like their own home rather than a hospital. Friends and family are not restricted by visiting hours.

Hospice Care provides medical services, emotional support and spiritual resources for patients in the last stages of life. The team also helps family members manage the practical details and emotional challenges of losing a loved one.

My father, a Navy veteran recently passed away at the Port Orange Hospice Facility in Port Orange Florida. An Air Force Chaplain visited Dad and had a conversation with him about his time in the Navy. Serving was a huge honor for my father and he was always happy to share a memory with anyone that would listen. After their conversation, Shane (the Chaplain) asked if it would be okay to provide Dad with a certificate thanking him for his service.

The following day the entire hospice team, some volunteers and the Chaplain came into Dad’s room and presented him with a nice framed certificate, shared stories with him, thanked him and sang God Bless America. My Mother and I were in tears as we watched Dad, he was beaming.

They also shared information with us on the benefits available to my Mother and where we could get a flag.

We are so grateful for the kindness of these strangers who are now friends.

 Watch the video…

http://youtu.be/s6WpXxvLPEw

Hospice Myths & Facts

MYTH: Hospice is a place people go to die.

FACT: Over 80% of hospice care takes place in the home, which is often the place patients and families feel most comfortable. Hospice care is given wherever the need exists.

MYTH: Hospice is only for people with cancer.

FACT: More than 50% of hospice patients nationwide have a diagnosis other than cancer. Increasingly, hospices are also serving families coping with the end-stages of chronic diseases like emphysema, COPD, Alzheimer’s, cardiovascular and neuromuscular diseases.

MYTH: Hospice is only for dying people.

FACT: As a family-centered concept of care, hospice focuses as much on the grieving family as on the dying patient.

MYTH: Hospice care is expensive.

FACT: People over 65 are entitled to the Medicare Hospice Benefit, which covers virtually all hospice related services such as drugs, medical equipment, nursing and social work. This means the financial burden to the family is limited, in sharp contrast to the huge expense that may occur when hospice is not used. While private pay insurers are not required to include a hospice benefit, today many do so. Most hospices will make accommodation for those who have limited or no insurance.

MYTH: Hospice is for when there is no hope.

FACT: When death is in sight, there are two options: submit without hope or live life as fully as possible. The gift of hospice is its capacity to help families see how much can be shared at the end of life through personal and spiritual connections. It is no wonder that many family members look back upon their hospice experience with gratitude and with the knowledge that everything possible was done to facilitate a peaceful death.

MYTH: Hospice care is only for those with private insurance.

FACT: Hospice serves everyone, regardless of ability to pay. Hospice care is covered under Medicare, Medicaid and most private insurance plans.

MYTH: If patients are in the ER, they must be hospitalized for 3 days on Medicare before going on hospice.

FACT: A patient can be admitted to hospice directly from the ER, without being hospitalized.

MYTH: Hospice is a facility.

FACT: Hospice care is provided wherever the patient may reside (i.e., home, skilled nursing or assisted living facility, hospital, hospice in-patient unit).

MYTH: Only senior citizens can receive hospice care.

FACT: Hospice cares for end-of-life patients of all ages – from infants and children to young adults to senior citizens.

MYTH: Hospice means that the patient will soon die.

FACT: Receiving hospice care does not mean giving up hope or that death is imminent. The earlier an individual receives hospice care, the more opportunity there is to stabilize your medical condition and address other needs. Some patients actually improve and may be discharged from hospice care.

MYTH: Patients can only receive hospice care for a limited amount of time.

FACT: The Medicare benefit, and most private insurance, pays for hospice care as long as the patient continues to meets the criteria necessary. Patients may come on and off hospice care, and re-enroll in hospice care, as needed.