Brookhaven Hospice

Traditional medicine is focused on prevention, cure or treatment. Palliative Care is first focused on the comfort and wishes of the patient. In Palliative Care, the focus is on ensuring, that their physical, emotional and spiritual symptoms are addressed and that patients are informed as much as they want to be about their illness, including prognosis and treatment options. It adds that extra support that a patient with a chronic life limiting illness often needs.

Palliative Care is specialized medical care for individuals living with a serious illness. Patients may receive care for their symptoms along with treatment intended to cure their serious illness. Care is provided along with curative treatment and may begin at the time of diagnosis. Both Palliative Care and Hospice Care, an individual’s care focuses on quality of life for them AND their family. Services provide wherever the individual calls home – whether that be a hospital, nursing home, specialized clinics, or family home. Both services will educate on choices for medical care as well as social, emotional, and practical support. Hospice Care is an increasingly utilized option for people with a terminal diagnosis as an end-of-life care option. Instead of a focus on curative treatment, hospice is care focused on care, comfort and quality of life. Hospice is designed for those patients that choose not to continue to undergo certain treatments.

Palliative care may be right for you if you are experiencing pain, stress, and other symptoms due to a serious illness. Serious illnesses include but are not limited to cancer, cardiac disease, respiratory disease, kidney failure, Alzheimer’s, AIDS, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and multiple sclerosis. Palliative care is appropriate at any stage of a serious illness, and you can get it along with treatment meant to cure you

Any patient with chronic life limiting illness may benefit from palliative care. Some but not all include patients with the following diseases: • Heart disease • Cancer • Stroke • Diabetes • Renal disease • Parkinson’s disease • Alzheimer’s disease

Palliative Care has been proven to benefit patients in many ways. Studies of patients who have cancer and early Palliative Care involvement report: • Better understanding of their disease and prognosis • Better control over decision-making • Greater patient satisfaction with care plan and their providers • Improved QOL • Get treatments that are more aligned with their wishes • Less depression and anxiety

Palliative Care is specialized medical care for people living with a life-limiting illness. It focuses on providing relief from the symptoms and stress of a life-limiting illness. The goal is to improve quality of life for both the patient and the family.

- Patients with a condition that has created a life expectancy of 6 months or less if the disease were to run its natural course. - Patients who have chosen comfort care which focuses on relief of symptoms rather than curative care. - Patients who decline extreme lifesaving or life-sustaining measures

Some features are common in patients when they ready for hospice and help determine appropriateness but not all patients exhibit these findings: • Frequent hospital or emergency department visits • Decline in function – difficulties with walking or transfers, recently bedbound • Recurrent infections • Progressive weight loss • Declining mental function • Increasing dependence for most Activities of Daily Living • Multiple co-morbidities

Members of our team have one goal – to bring compassionate care and comfort to those facing a life-limiting illness and their loved ones. They each have special expertise in the management of physical, emotional, and spiritual needs that arise during end-of-life care. Medical directors - a physician who works with the patient's physician and the hospice team to provide expert advice to the Hospice team. Hospice nurse - provides symptom management expertise to improve patient's comfort Hospice social worker - provides anticipatory grief support and community resources Pharmacist - provides medication management. CNA - helps meet patients' day-to-day care needs. Volunteers - specially trained to offer companionship, compassionate presence, and practical household needs. Chaplain - listening to the hopes, fears, and concerns of the patient and/or family using a non-denomination approach. Bereavement coordinators - support families with grief after the loss of their loved one.

Hospice care includes medications for pain and other symptoms caused by the condition for which they are on hospice, durable medical equipment (hospital bed, walker, commode, etc), and if needed, nutritional counseling, inpatient care for symptom management, respite care to relieve caregiving responsibilities of the loved ones.

Hospice is a benefit covered by Medicare, Medicaid and most private insurances.