Hospice Care Programs
Our proprietary programs are designed to provide a plan of customized care for a variety of diagnoses and needs. Programs vary by location. Check with your local Elara Caring representative for details.
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Frequently Asked Questions
Everyone has a right to choose their healthcare options. If a patient wants to stop the hospice benefit for any reason, they can. Also with the increased care of a hospice team of providers, sometimes patients improve. If a physician believes the patient will live beyond six months, hospice can be discontinued. If or when the patient’s condition begins to deteriorate, the doctor can reassess, and the patient may become eligible once again.
The simple answer is as often as needed. The frequency of visits is based on the patient’s individual care plan and will increase or decrease depending upon the patient’s needs.
Elara Caring is a Medicare-certified hospice provider and is fully staffed 24 hours a day, 365 days of the year—including weekends and holidays. Patients and caregivers are encouraged to call any time and will be connected with the appropriate staff person based on the need. A nurse will visit to address a patient’s changing needs even if the visit is outside of the scheduled care plan.
Hospice is a program of care and support for individuals when a cure is no longer likely or the patient has chosen not to pursue aggressive curative treatment. The focus is on the patient’s quality of life and comfort. Hospice care is for the patient as well as the family and caregivers. Palliative care is a medical specialty focused on the needs of people who are living with serious, often life-threatening illness. The focus is on treating uncontrollable symptoms.
Following are some of the signs that it may be time for the added benefits of hospice:
- Hospitalizations over the last year
- Recent weight loss over the last six months
- Difficulty swallowing
- Needing more assistance with activities of daily living
- Increased or new onset of incontinence
- Decreased stamina
- Increased edema
- Increased shortness of breath
- Decreased ability to communicate
- Increased disorientation or confusion
- Withdrawal from family and friends
- Decreased appetite
- Infections, such as UTI or respiratory
- New wounds or wounds that do not heal
