I’ve talked to multiple people with both Hospice and their Palliative care dept. each person has given me greatly conflicting information. I’ve been given 2 appointments to have my mother evaluated for her needs but both were canceled by Hospice. Mom is 85 dad is 83 and trying unsuccessfully to care for her. Looking for your experiences and input. Thanks
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"The Difference Between Palliative Care and Hospice."
1.)Both palliative care and hospice care provide comfort. But palliative care can begin at diagnosis, and at the same time as treatment. Hospice care begins after treatment of the disease is stopped and when it is clear that the person is not going to survive the illness.
https://medlineplus.gov/ency/patientinstructions/000536.htm
2.)"Hospice care is reserved for terminally ill patients when treatment is no longer curative during the last 6 months of life, assuming the disease takes its normal course.
Palliative care can be employed while the patient is continuing active treatment through different phases of their life limiting condition."
https://www.hospicesect.org/hospice-and-palliative-care
[Please visit the sites listed for much more detail.]
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Palliative care is an approach to health care you could say. Instead of focusing on cures and prolonging live, they focus on relief of symptoms & improving the quality of life for people with chronic illness. It is very similar to hospice.
If you really just need help with the day to day care of your parents, if there are no long term illnesses or anything then you probably need home health care.
If your parents are home alone, they would likely need someone able to care for them in the home, as I don't believe that Hospice provides around the clock caretaking, inside the home. When a friend of mine, who is 80 years old, brought in Hospice for his wife who had cancer, they placed his wife in an inpatient hospice facility, because, he was not able to care for her in the home.