What Is Hospice

Hospice treats the person, not the disease.  Hospice emphasizes quality of life, rather than length of time.  Hospice neither hastens nor postpones the patient’s death, but affirms life and accepts dying as a normal process.  The hospice movement stresses dignity and human values that go beyond the physical needs of the patient.  Hospice care seeks to enable the patient to spend what time they have left, with dignity and quality, at home or in a home-like setting.  A team of trained professionals are available on a 24-hour, 7-day a week basis to provide extensive service to the patient and/or their family.

Hospice care is for people with any terminal illness such as lung disease, liver disease, heart disease, cancer and more.

Hospice Is Comfort Care

Comfort Care is choosing quality of life as the priority. Comfort Care concentrates on the patient’s right to die pain-free and with dignity at home.

The Benefits Of Hospice

Many end-of-life experts, as well as patients and families, consider hospice to be the ‘gold standard’ for end-of-life care for both quality and cost effectiveness.  Most people equate end-of-life palliative care with hospice care.  Family members consistently report the quality of hospice care to be excellent.  Compared to traditional care for the terminally ill and the use of advance directives, such as living wills and medical powers of attorney, hospice care could save up to 10% of the cost of care in a patient’s last year of life, 10-17% in the last 6 months, and 25-40% in the final month.

Experts agree that patients need to be enrolled in hospice for at least 60 days, or longer, to maximize the overall benefits for pain and symptom management and psychological and spiritual support.  However, any length of time is beneficial to both the patient and the caregiver.

Medical Equipment Loan Program

Hospice of Laramie offers a variety of medical equipment available at no cost to any one living in Albany County. If you are recovering from an illness, or surgery, medical equipment may be obtained on a 12-week program while you recover. Call or visit our office for more information.

Services Allowed Under MEDICARE/MEDICAID Guidelines

Nursing Services on an intermittent basis Certified Nursing Assistant care
Physician services (relating to terminal diagnosis) Social Services and Counseling
Medications (relating to terminal diagnosis) Bereavement Support
Durable Medical Equipment and Supplies Trained Volunteers
Short-term Inpatient and Respite Care Caregiver Support
Physical/Dietary/Speech Therapy Spiritual Support
Continuous Care during a crisis

Advance Directives

The following two Advance Directives are legal documents that enable you to plan, and communicate, your affairs if you are unable to do so.

A Living Will –  documents your wishes concerning medical treatments at the end of life.

A Medical Power of Attorney –  allows you to appoint a person authorized to make medical decisions on your behalf.

Living wills and medical powers of attorney are valuable tools to help communicate your wishes for future medical care. Taking the time to prepareadvance directives can ease the burden on those who must make healthcare decisions.

Advance directives identify who you wish to speak for you and make decisions if you become unable to speak for yourself as the result of an accident or illness. Advance directives serve as your voice in decisions about your medical treatment, even if you are unconscious or too ill to communicate.

Advance directives are legally valid throughout the United States, however, the laws governing advance directives vary from state to state, so it is important to comply with your state’s law.

For more information contact our office: 307.745.9254.