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You or your loved ones doctor can request a hospice evaluation to see if your loved one qualifies for hospice care, and if they do whether at home or in a facility, a nurse will come once a week to start, and aides to bathe your loved one at least twice a week.
They will supply any and all needed equipment, supplies and medications to keep your loved one comfortable and pain free, and it will all be covered 100% under your loved ones Medicare.
You will also have access to their chaplain, social worker and volunteers, and if your loved one is in your home, you can receive respite care every 6 months or so where they can go to the hospice home for 5 days to give you a break. And again all covered 100% under Medicare.

My late husband(who had vascular dementia and was completely bedridden at that point)was under hospice care in our home for the last 22 months of his life, and while it was helpful to have the aides come bathe him twice a week, 99% of my husbands care was still on me.
So don't be mislead into thinking that hospice is going to be doing all this hands on care, as they just don't. Unless of course your loved one ends up in a hospice home, then the care is great.
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Reply to funkygrandma59
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I stopped in at the Hospice office/In Patient Unit and I simply asked..."How do I know when it is time for Hospice." They had a Nurse talk to me, they phoned his doctor and then cam back to me and said.."He qualifies" I answered a lot more questions and was told a Nurse and CNA will call you this week to set up appointments.
That was the start of my 3 year Journey with Hospice.
My Husband was first diagnosed with Alzheimer's. He fell and broke his hip about 8 or 9 months prior to me asking about Hospice. I do think he also had Vascular Dementia but I never had it officially diagnosed as I saw no point in putting him through testing and the results would not have impacted his care nor the outcome.

With Hospice you will get a Nurse that will come 1 time a week. More often if needed. The Nurse will order medications and any equipment that is needed.
A CNA that will come at least 2 times a week to give a bath/shower order personal supplies.
Also part of the "Team" is a social Worker, Chaplain and the Hospice you select may have different Therapists that can come in.
AND with Hospice you can also request a Volunteer that will come and sit with your LO while you get things done outside the house or in. And if you need specific help you can request a Volunteer that can do what you need done. Volunteers are REQUIRED by Medicare and Medicaid so all Hospices have Volunteers. AND Medicare, Medicaid will also cover RESPITE care if you need that.

If I were you I would ask about Hospice, if he dies not qualify for Hospice at this time you could ask about Palliative Care. You will not get the same level of help that you would with Hospice BUT they will be there to monitor for declines that would then qualify him for Hospice so he may get on sooner than you might realize.
The general thinking is "6 months or fewer" while this may be the general initial criteria if a patient lives past that initial 6 months if there is a DOCUMENTED DECLINE the person can be recertified to remain on Hospice.
A decline can be anything from weight loss, or he used to walk from the couch to the table but now he has to stop and rest, or he used to walk without a walker now he has to use a walker. he used to eat all of his meal now he only eats 50%. He used to sleep 8 hours now he sleeps 10 hours a day.

With hospice you will be giving up some medical treatments, you will be giving up ER visits (unless authorized by Hospice). BUT you can also elect to go off Hospice if you do chose to elect a procedure that Hospice would not authorize, once the treatment is over you can elect to return to Hospice. Or you can say..this is not what I want and return to your previous medical care.

Hospice was probably the best choice I made for my Husband when it came to his medical care.
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Reply to Grandma1954
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Call the patients doctor and ask for an order to evaluate. In home care can be done, in an Assisted Living facility or Skilled Nursing with the patient paying room and board, or in a hospice home where Medicare pays room and board for one week only.
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Reply to lealonnie1
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This is for the POA to discuss with the medical team involved in the care of this particular patient.
Wishing you good luck.
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Reply to AlvaDeer
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Hospice is Hospice. If done in the home, the family does most of the care. You get a Nurse check in 1x a week but on call 24/7. An aide for 2 or 3x a week to bathe the client for maybe an hour. Some Hospice providers may be able to give you more time so you can run errands or even provide a volunteer.

If done in a facilty, same thing only the facility still takes care of the resident when hospicevis not present.

It does not really matter if the person has Denentia or not, the same care is given.
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Reply to JoAnn29
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