Hospice & Palliative Care

Articles

Hospice: The 4 Levels of Care

There are four levels of care provided by hospices in the United States. Every patient receiving hospice services will be on one of these four levels. A hospice patient...Read entire article »

What’s the Difference Between Hospice & Palliative Care?

American hospice service started with the Connecticut Hospice in March 1974. Today, there are over 2,884 Medicare-certified hospices, and an additional 200 volunteer hospices in the U.S., with as...Read entire article »

Palliative & Hospice Care Explained: What It Is, What to Expect, How to Pay For it & How to Find It

What It Is To palliate means to ease discomfort by treating symptoms of an illness. Palliative care promotes the patient's comfort by addressing any and all issues causing physical or...Read entire article »

Hospice: How to Find & Assess

Gilbert Guide provides listings of hospices in your area, along with advice for finding the hospice that will best suit your individual needs. Hospice care can be provided at...Read entire article »

Handling Hospitalization: The Ins and Outs of Advocating for Your Loved One

Being hospitalized is scary. If it happens to your loved one, minimize confusion by being as prepared as possible. This article will teach you how to become an effective...Read entire article »

Pain Medication at Home—The Steps of Giving an Injection

Many medications come prepackaged, like Tubexes®. All you need to do is insert the cartridge into the holder and you are ready to inject. Other medications will need to be...Read entire article »

Hospice: How Chaplains Help

Hospice patients and their family members have many wonderful services available to them under the auspices of hospice care. One of these services is spiritual counseling, provided by a...Read entire article »

Expert Columns

Hospice & Palliative Care: Where’s the Common Ground?

Receiving “The News” A person faced with a new diagnosis that is life-limiting is generally overwhelmed. Everything has changed, and nothing will ever be the same. All of the...Read entire article »

Hospice: Frequently Asked Questions

Editor’s Note: This information appears courtesy of the National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization (NHPCO). It has been adapted for GilbertGuide.com. When should a decision about entering a hospice...Read entire article »

Determining Hospice Eligibility for Dementia

How do you know if your loved one is eligible to receive hospice services? How does a physician make a prognosis of six months or less for a patient?...Read entire article »

How to Choose a Hospice

Not all hospices are the same—and it’s important to know the patient and family have a choice when it comes to selecting one. While all hospices are required to...Read entire article »

Hospice Care: Living with Terminal Illness

Patients and their families are usually overwhelmed when faced with the diagnosis of terminal illness. Many patients are symptom-free until an illness or hospitalization reveals they have a life-limiting...Read entire article »

Pain Medication at Home—Top Do’s and Don’ts

Here is a brief list of Do's and Don'ts, which apply to you no matter which medicines you are taking for pain. DO'S Know the name, dosage and side effects,...Read entire article »

Pain Medication at Home—Side Effects from Pain Medication

Constipation Pain medications containing narcotics usually affect the digestive system. But there are ways of dealing with the side effects, and they shouldn't prevent you from using a drug which...Read entire article »

Pain Medication at Home—Intramuscular and Subcutaneous Injections

Intramuscular Sites There are three common places for intramuscular injections. Here is how to locate them: 1. Upper outer portion of the buttocks. Divide one cheek of the buttocks with...Read entire article »

Pain Medication at Home—Controlling Pain

Telling your doctor that the pain medication "doesn't work" is the first step in taking control; but giving the doctor some specific details will help in finding a solution. The...Read entire article »

Hospice: What to Expect

There is a lot of confusion around what one can expect when engaging hospice services. First, a referral is made by a physician, hospital, nursing home, patient or family...Read entire article »

Hospice: The Interdisciplinary Team

Many people think the only reason someone should be on hospice is for pain control. However, hospice has several services to offer patients and their families. Hospice care is...Read entire article »

The Role of Hospice Care in Pain Management

A major fear people have of dying is that they’ll be in pain. Hospice eases that fear by providing palliative care with an emphasis on pain control. The main...Read entire article »

Hospice: Discover a Free Medicare Benefit

Hospice services are available twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week. There is always a nurse on call at night and on weekends. The nurse will visit a...Read entire article »

Tools & Checklists

Medication Tracker

Make sure all caregivers, physicians and pharmacists have the same patient information by keeping track of the medications you or a loved one takes. Download our easy-to-use Medication Tracker. ...Read entire article »

Who Pays for What: Coverage-at-a-Glance

Searching for senior care can lead to many questions about which services are covered by insurance providers and which must be paid out of pocket. Gilbert Guide can make figuring...Read entire article »

Definitions

What Is…Hospice and Hospice Care?

Hospice is a type of palliative care designed to support a patient through the last stages of a terminal illness, when the goal is no longer to cure the illness....Read entire article »

What Is…Palliative Care?

Palliative care reduces the amount of pain or suffering from a disease or illness. Often palliative care is administered when the actual disease course cannot be treated—or when treatment of...Read entire article »

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