Suncrest Home Health and Hospice provides hospice care to patients in the Chicago area dealing with an end-stage terminal diagnosis. At Suncrest, we understand that not everyone is familiar with hospice care and how it works. Many people are better acquainted with the concept of nursing homes than with hospice facilities. While the two share some similarities, the services each provides is different.
Similarities Between Hospice and Nursing Homes
Although both hospice facilities and nursing homes accept patients of all ages, the majority of both are elderly.
If you have toured a hospice facility and a nursing home, you may notice they can look similar. Nursing homes often separate patients based on the level of care they need. This makes it easier for mobile and alert patients to engage socially, and it is also easier for the nursing staff to deliver care when patients are grouped this way.
Those in the last stage of care are often bedridden and may not communicate. Most hospice patients enter hospice care near the very end of their lives. In fact, the majority of hospice patients live about a week after entering hospice. For this reason, many of them are also bedridden and not responsive.
Differences Between Hospice and Nursing Homes
The main difference between hospice care and a nursing home is that a nursing home is a long-term-care facility, while hospice care is limited to six months.
Because hospice is intended to be end-of-life care, in order for a patient to enter hospice, they must be referred by a physician who believes the patient has six months or less to live. Occasionally, hospice patients will live longer than six months. When this happens, a physician re-evaluates them, and if they are not expected to live six more months, they may remain in hospice.
Nursing homes are intended to provide care for a longer period. The average nursing home patient lives a little over two years after entering the home; however, some live for many years. Nursing home patients generally have mobility issues, problems taking care of themselves or memory impairment.
How to Decide Which Is Right for Your Loved One
If your loved one has hospitalized for an illness, a surgery or a medical event, the hospital social worker will have recommendations for you upon their release. Depending on why they were hospitalized, they may not be able to take care of themselves — either temporarily or permanently.
Some patients are discharged into rehab facilities, while others may go to nursing homes. Caring for your loved one in your home is always an option, but it comes with many challenges. Nursing homes provide round-the-clock skilled nursing care to keep your loved one safe. Additionally, the facility is built for the mobility challenged, with bathrooms with grab bars and no thresholds, wide doorways to accommodate wheelchairs and walkers, and other conveniences.
If your loved one is suffering from a terminal illness and no longer wants to receive lifesaving medication, they may be a candidate for hospice. In hospice, we provide medication for pain, depression and anxiety, but we do not use drugs to extend the life of the patient.
For more information about hospice care in the Chicago area, contact Suncrest Home Health and Hospice.
