Ivy Family Health Updates

 
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In this segment, Dr. Edward Martin discusses Hospice with his siblings, Drs. Kathryn and John Martin.
Hospice is a term used for a type of medical care for the terminally ill. While it can refer to an actual place where a patient might stay since there are hospice facilities, it is really an approach to medical care with an interdisciplinary team. The team usually is comprised of a nurse, physician, social worker, chaplain, among others. It was initially designed to provide care for patients with cancer, but now anyone with an illness with a life expectancy of less than 6 months can receive hospice care.
The goal of the hospice team is not to cure a disease, but to help make the patient comfortable, and relive symptoms. The focus is on assisting with the physical discomfort, such as pain or shortness of breath, and also to provide emotional, spiritual, and psychological comfort.
Hospice care has paid for by Medicare since 1983. It is usually begun when the patient has a life expectancy of less than 6 months, although it often isn’t requested until late into the patient’s illness. One reason for this is that many families don’t know about hospice. There is also often a misconception that the person will actually die more quickly once in hospice care. This is not true, and a study was done which showed that for every diagnosis examined, the hospice patients lived as long or longer than those without hospice care.
Hospice care may prolong the life of the patient since there is better pain control and a better quality of life. Use of an IV and IV fluids is determined on a case by case basis. While it can help when administering certain medications, it does not improve symptoms such as a dry mouth or thirst, and does not alter the survival rate.