Making end of life decisions is often overwhelming. So many emotions are involved; it’s hard to know what’s best for a loved one.
Since palliative care and hospice are the two most frequently considered, it’s critical to know the difference.
It’s important to note that services delivered by these providers do not always demonstrate a respect for the sanctity of human life or the Personhood of the individual.
Palliative Care
Palliative care is specialized medical care designed to provide relief from the symptoms and stress associated with a serious illness, such as cancer, heart or lung disease, Alzheimer’s, multiple sclerosis, and Parkinson’s disease.
The goal is to improve the quality of life for both patients and their family. A key feature of palliative care is that in addition to dealing with side effects such as pain, the patient can continue to receive treatment for curing the underlying disease.
Treatment is provided by a team of doctors who specialize, nurses and other specialists who work together with people’s regular doctors to provide an extra layer of support.
Palliative care can be used at any stage of an illness. It can be provided in hospitals, nursing homes, outpatient palliative care clinics, or at home.
To enroll in a palliative care program simply ask your doctor.
Hospice
Hospice is comfort care designed for people with a terminal illness. To be eligible, at least two physicians must certify that the patient has less than six months to live.
An important fact to keep in mind before seeking hospice care is that any attempts to cure the underlying disease will be stopped. The goal is to treat the person, not the disease. In other words, to make their death as comfortable as possible.
Also, hospice insurers, including Medicare, don’t pay for round-the-clock home nursing care. Experimental treatments and clinical trials are also excluded.
Hospice can be provided at home, or in hospice facilities, nursing homes, assisted living facilities, veterans’ facilities, or hospitals.
Red Flags
While these promises sound reassuring, families need to be aware that not all hospice providers respect the Personhood of those entrusted to their care.
A nationwide investigation between 2012 and 2016 conducted by the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) found that hundreds of hospice care facilities had serious, life-threatening deficiencies.
Out of the 4,563 facilities surveyed, more than 300 provided unacceptable care. Findings included:
- A patient’s wounds were not treated properly resulting in gangrene requiring amputating of the patient’s leg.
- Maggots were allowed to develop around a patient’s feeding tube.
- Hospice workers failed to recognize signs of possible sexual assault of a patient.
- A patient went two years before having a wound treated.
- Poorly trained staff attempting to move a patient dropped her on the floor resulting in a broken leg.
Worst of all, nurses admitted to overmedicating patients to quicken their deaths in order to secure higher payments from Medicare.
Clearly, there are potential dangers involved in placing a loved one in any live-in hospice facility. Pro-life advocates are encouraged to do extensive homework before making such a decision. A list of questions to ask about hospice, as well as other valuable information, can be found at www.halovoice.org.
Sources: halovoice.org; vistas.com; nia.nih.gov; calhospice.org. oig.hhs.gov; nbcnews.com.
By Wayne DuBois
Georgia Right to Life
Media Relations Advisor