If you or a loved one has been diagnosed with a life-limiting or terminal illness, you may have heard the words “comfort care” and “hospice” used often. However, what precisely is comfort care? When can you receive it, and how is it different from hospice care?
Similar options for end-of-life care include hospice and comfort care. Despite the fact that both programs are designed to make patients feel comfortable, there are significant differences between them in terms of cost, timing, location, and eligibility for services.
Consequently, let’s examine the variations! Scroll down to see!
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What is Comfort Care?
Comfort care is care that is provided with or without a desire to cure. The symptoms of a life-limiting illness may be eased with comfort care. When a patient is diagnosed, during curative treatment, or near the end of their life, comfort care can be given.
Comfort Care is regarded as care for the living, emphasizing the entire person. It is accessible early on in the course of the disease, whether it be a chronic condition (which may or may not be terminal) or an acute event. Other curative or maintenance therapies may be combined with Comfort Care. It is considered an extra layer of care in addition to everything the person has in place already (i.e. chemo/radiation, PT/OT, surgery etc.). Comfort Care does not replace the person’s medical team but rather works in collaboration with their team to provide an extra layer of support. Numerous studies show that people with serious illness and their loved ones live longer and better with PC. Comfort Care is a distinct medical specialty that aids seriously ill patients in maintaining their quality of life for as long as possible. It has a positive impact on people’s lives and the lives of those close to them by offering assistance, and direction, and listening to them as they travel through their own unique journeys.
What is Hospice?
Hospice care is a special type of medical attention that prioritizes the quality of life for patients and their caregivers who are dealing with an advanced, terminal illness. In order to help patients in the final stages of an incurable illness live as comfortably and fully as possible, hospice care offers compassionate care.
The hospice philosophy acknowledges that death is the last phase of life and does not attempt to hasten or postpone it. Instead, it affirms life. Hospice care addresses the patient as well as the disease’s symptoms rather than the illness itself. In order for a person’s final days to be spent with dignity and quality, surrounded by their loved ones, a team of professionals collaborates to manage symptoms. Hospice care is also family-focused; it involves the patient and family in decision-making.
Differences Between Comfort Care and Hospice
Home Vs. Professional Institutions
Programs for comfort care fall short of hospice programs. Typically, once registered via a referral from the chief care physician, a patient’s hospice care program is provided at home under the supervision of hospice professionals. Hospice primarily depends on the family caregiver and the nurse providing hospice care. Although a hospice can offer the needed care in a nursing home or any other hospital-equipped facility, it’s not feasible.
On the other hand, a comfort care team comprises nurses, doctors, and other trained medical caregivers, who are ever-present at the treatment facility at which the patient’s treatment is administered. In accordance with the patient’s needs, the comfort care team’s job is to administer and monitor comfort care. Unlike hospice care which is mostly administered in homes, comfort care is administered in an institution like a hospital that is fully equipped with medical facilities or nursing homes under the supervision of a comfort care team.
Caring Vs. Extending Life
Compared to aggressive disease relief, a sizable portion of hospice programs place an emphasis on comfort. In the absence of negative side effects related to treatments for prolonged life, hospice patients should choose not to receive extensive life-prolonging treatment and instead concentrate on making better use of the time they have left. The goal of hospice care is to provide comfort to the patients while letting them concentrate on the practical and emotional aspects of dying.
Regarding palliative care, there is no time limit on when a patient should receive this kind of care; it is effective for patients looking for comfort at any stage of illness, whether it be chronic or terminal. Patients in a palliative care program can choose to receive extensive life-prolonging treatment because the treatment schedules will be followed.
It’s important to remember that there will always be exceptions to the general guidelines given. There are a few hospice programs that offer life-prolonging treatments, whereas there are other comfort care programs that focus mainly on end-of-life care. Speak with your physician to determine the best service for you.
Separate Payment Vs. Insurance Payment
Most likely, the hospice and comfort care costs covered by your health insurance plan are capped. Hospice is regarded as a broad treatment in terms of payment, but insurance coverage varies. It should be noted that some hospice programs offer low-cost medical services for uninsured or economically disadvantaged patients. Medicare covers a sizable number of hospice programs.
It is likely that your regular medical insurance covers palliative care services because the majority of them are provided by hospitals or regular medical facilities. It should be noted that each item will be paid for separately, just like regular hospital and doctor visits. Prescriptions will be paid out individually and covered as specified by your regular insurance in the event that you are given access to outpatient palliative care. Contact your insurance provider, the administration of the hospital, and the palliative care team for more details.
With Time Limit Vs. Without Time Limit
A patient is eligible for a hospice program if he or she has a lifespan not exceeding six months. Timing is essential because insurance companies have strict requirements for who can receive hospice benefits.
Comfort care differs from hospice care in that there are no time limitations. Whether they are nearing the end of their lives or not, patients can receive this kind of care at any stage of their illness.
Summary
Hospice and comfort care are different in general from one another in terms of how and when care is delivered, how it is paid for, and the available treatments. Choose the appropriate care option for any senior members of your family if they require it!
FAQs
Is Hospice Care Expensive?
A number of months of care and support are offered by hospice care, which is covered by the Medicare Hospice Benefit. Medicare pays for all costs, including medical care, prescriptions, supplies, and equipment. A hospice benefit is included in Medicaid and the majority of private insurance plans. Because it is a nonprofit, Lower Cape Fear Hospice never denies care to a patient because of their financial situation.
Does Hospice Know When Death is Near?
Your hospice team’s goal is to help prepare you for some of the things that might occur close to the time of death of your loved one. We can never predict exactly when a terminally ill person will die. But we know when the time is getting close, by a combination of signs and symptoms.
