Choosing who will care for your loved one during their final days isn’t a decision to be taken lightly. As most people aren’t familiar with the interworkings of the hospice industry, it’s common for families to experience some difficulties when comparing one hospice to another.

To make the best decision for your loved one and the rest of your family, consider these four factors when choosing a hospice provider.

Testimonials

Check for online reviews and testimonials. Finding out what people who have actually used a company’s services before think of the company can be a great starting point. Keep in mind that disgruntled customers often take to online reviews to vent frustrations, so be sure this is just one piece of the puzzle and not the evaluation method you use.

Mission Statement

Being a hospice provider is about more than just offering medical care. Emotional support and compassion should make up a large part of how a hospice provider operates. Examining a company’s mission statement and values will help you determine how much they value this side of the business.

Certifications

There’s a long list of certifications hospices and hospice employees can get. Some are more important than others, but the certifications a hospice holds will give you a good indication of what areas of service they prioritize.

Your Gut

Once you’ve narrowed your decision down to a couple of options, set some phone calls and in person meetings. You’ll likely end up meeting with a transition specialist or a social worker. If you get a bad feeling about a hospice provider during these meetings, it might be best to look elsewhere.

At Cura-HPC we work hard to provide the best possible care for our patients and their families. That means having a top quality medical staff and offering caring emotional support. If you are in need of a Tulsa hospice provider, please call Cura-HPC.

There’s a surprising amount of myths and misunderstandings surrounding hospice and palliative care. These misunderstandings will often delay families from enrolling in hospice or keep them from enrolling in hospice care altogether. A simple look at the facts will help those interested in hospice care understand the benefits of hospice and avoid these misunderstandings.

Here are some of the most common hospice misunderstandings and why they’re wrong.

Hospice is expensive

Quite the opposite actually. Medicare, Medicaid, and the majority of private health insurance companies all cover hospice care. This means patients and their families will rarely have to pay anything out of pocket for the care they receive while enrolled in hospice.

You can only have 6 months of hospice

This stems from the fact that patients must be certified as being terminally ill by a physician and have a prognosis of 6 months or less if the disease runs its normal course. This requirement does not mean patients can only receive a maximum of 6 months of care, because the physician’s prognosis may change over time. There is no limit to how much hospice care a patient can receive as long as they continue to get a 6 month prognosis from a doctor.

Hospice only happens in one place

While some patients may choose to receive hospice care by moving into a hospice facility owned and operated by the provider, hospice care can be administered in a wide variety of locations. A patient may receive care in their own home, a skilled nursing facility, a hospital, or almost any safe environment.

As you can see, the benefits are clear when hospice misunderstandings are corrected. If you or a loved one are in need of hospice care, call Cura-HPC for information about our hospice care services. 

When families enroll their loved one in hospice both the patient and the family get access to a wide range of hospice services. One of those services is respite care, which is temporary care provided for the patient at a hospital, nursing home, or inpatient facility so the family or friends who are acting as the patient’s primary caregivers can rest and take some time off.

Being a hospice caregiver can be incredibly draining, both physically and emotionally. As many hospice patients need constant care and attention, it can be difficult for caregivers to take care of themselves. The time off can allow families and friends a chance to recharge their batteries and take care of personal issues they may have been putting off due to lack of time and energy. Doing so lets the caregivers come back focused and ready to take care of their loved one.

In certain cases, family and friends may be temporarily unable to care for the patient due to extenuating circumstances. This can include illness, natural disaster or extreme weather, family emergencies, or other uncontrollable events. During these times caregivers can rest easy knowing someone will be there to care for their loved one.

Getting a break from the duties of caregiving offers physical and mental benefits.

• Knowing their loved one is being cared for by a trained professional, caregivers can finally catch up on some of the sleep they’ve been missing out on.
• Getting to step away from the day to day grind of caregiving will refresh a caregiver’s attitude and renew their energy.
• Just by taking a few days off, caregivers have reported a major decrease in the amount of stress they feel.
• Having some much-needed me-time will allow caregivers to return to their normal diet, exercise, and daily routine.

Respite care is a vital part of hospice care, for both the patient and the caregiver. If you are looking for a Tulsa hospice for your loved one, call Cura-HPC. 

There’s no right or wrong way to grieve, and everyone will experience grief differently. Often, we feel like the grief will never end or like there’s something we could be doing to make it better. While there certainly are steps you can take to improve the grief process, like bereavement care, the way to get over grief is to get through grief. It sounds cliché’, but it’s true. There are so many factors that can affect how a person will grieve that it’s foolish to think there’s a standardized or ideal way to grieve.

That being said, knowing what to expect when grieving a loved one can be helpful. This will help you understand your emotions and feel more comfortable expressing them. Below are a few commonly felt emotions people going through grief may experience. Again, just because you don’t experience any of these emotions or experience emotions not listed doesn’t mean you’re doing it wrong.

Emotions you might feel:

• Shock
• Sudden sadness or hopelessness
• Anxiety about life without your loved one
• Guilt or anger about things that were said and done, or things that weren’t said and done
• Relief that their suffering is finally over
• Not accepting their death

Other, sometimes physical, symptoms of grief:

• A heavy chest
• No appetite
• Mood swings
• A tight throat
• Frequent forgetfulness
• Extreme fatigue
• Not being able to sleep
• Difficulty focusing

It's also not uncommon to act out of character in the following ways:

• Unexpected crying
• Strange cravings
• Undereating or overeating
• Purposeless wandering
• Taking on behaviors and characteristics of your loved one
• Fits of anger
• Frequently talking about your loved one

One of the most difficult parts of caring for an aging loved one is the frequent trips to the hospital. These trips are emotionally draining and they can be expensive. Thankfully, hospice care has proven to be an effective way to reduce trips to the hospital. A study by the Journal of Post-Acute and Long-Term Care Medicine (JAMDA) found that while 44% of nursing home residents are likely to be hospitalized in the final 30 days of their life, that number drops to 22% for nursing home residents who are enrolled in hospice care. As a Tulsa hospice care provider, we are passionate about reducing hospitalizations for our patients an improving their quality of life.

This study involved 505,851 non-hospice residents and 241,790 hospice-enrolled residents living in more than 14,000 facilities across the nation. Of the residents studied, 37.63% of non-hospice and 23.18% of hospice residents were hospitalized in the last 30 days of their life. This means that for every 10% increase in hospice penetration there is a reduction in hospitalization risk of 5.1% for non-hospice residents and 4.8% for hospice-enrolled residents.

After the study was completed, the researchers found that higher facility-level hospice penetration decreases hospitalization risk for both non-hospice and hospice-enrolled residents. Their findings also dealt with nursing home end-of-life care delivery, collaboration among providers, and cost-benefit analysis of hospice care.

Studies like this continue to show the many benefits of hospice care. However, the sad reality is that the majority of hospice-eligible patients will never receive one day of hospice care. At Cura-HPC, we work hard to ensure as many patients as possible receive the Tulsa hospice care they deserve.