Issue 18.11
There is still much confusion and misunderstanding about Hospice and what it offers. This was brought home to me at a training I attended last week on Spirituality and the End of Life Care. One of the participants shared how she struggled for eight months to take care of her terminally ill husband while raising four children. During this time, none of the doctors involved in his medical care informed her of the possibility of hospice care for her husband. Finally one of the medical personnel she was interacting with suggested Hospice for her spouse. As it turned out, he only lived for three more days after being placed on hospice but the participant stated: “It was the best three days of my life” emphasizing the difference hospice made to her and her family.
This tragic story is so often repeated in many families because of the ignorance and misunderstanding of what hospice really is and does. This dear woman could have been helped from the beginning instead of struggling for months alone with her dying partner.
It is important to understand: Hospice does not cause terminal illness or death. The patient’s diagnosis is determined to be terminal by medical professionals long before hospice ever comes on the scene.
The purpose and mission of hospice is to intervene on behalf of the patient and help him/her enjoy life as long as they live. The ultimate purpose of hospice is to serve the whole person – Body, Mind, Spirit – providing physical, mental and spiritual support for the patient as he/she deals with the progression of their illness or disease. The hospice team walks hand in hand with the patient as they live life, while facing the immediacy of death. Hospice is also there to provide the same support to the family as they journey on this path with their loved one.
Hospice’s mission is to support life, not to cause anyone’s death. Once this is clearly understood, families won’t have to wait until the last minute before they receive the help they so desperately need and want. Hospice care is available to everyone who needs it through the simple recommendation of their doctor and health professionals.
You can help spread the good news of hospice and clear up the misunderstandings about it by sharing your knowledge of the real purpose and mission of hospice with your family, neighbors and anyone you know who may be in need of hospice services. You will be a blessing to them in this sharing.
Luigi Persichetti is the chaplain for Southern Utah Home Care and Hospice and the minister of the Unity Center of Positive Living in St. George.