Services
Hospice
Care
The
Residence
of Arbor Hospice
Hospice
Care:
Frequently Asked Questions
What is hospice care?
Hospice care is family-focused end of life care that considers the needs and goals of all family members. The hospice care plan is always flexible, never fixed or rigid. Hospice professionals design a personalized treatment plan and add to or modify it as patient needs change.
Who provides hospice care? top of page
A team of hospice professionals meets the variety and complexity of patient needs. Each member plays a unique role, addressing physical, emotional and spiritual needs of the patient and family.
The hospice team includes:
- Physician:
Care is managed by the patient's own physician or by our medical director.
- Registered
nurse: Specially trained hospice nurses are on call 24 hours a day
and visit as often as needed. They monitor a patient’s condition
and provide palliative care, a special kind of care that emphasizes
patient comfort by keeping any distressful symptoms under control. Nurses
also provide families with valuable caregiving skills and teach families
what to expect during the patient's illness.
- Social
worker: Social workers help the family deal with financial, insurance
and legal issues, and help them process the personal and social challenges
of illness, disability and the dying process.
- Children’s
specialists:. Often, children don't have the words to express what
they're feeling. Children's specialists are professional therapists
who are trained to address the unique needs of grieving and seriously
ill children. Utilizing artwork, booksand play, these therapists help
children cope with what is going on in their family.
- Home
health aide: Aides offer much-needed relief for caregivers by helping
with personal care, light housekeeping, and meal preparation.
- Spiritual
care: Chaplains are available for spiritual support and to provide
nondenominational services that connect the family with their faith
community.
- Other
therapists: Physical, occupational and speech therapists provide
care as needed.
- Volunteers:
Trained volunteers provide many services, including companionship, transportation,
respite care and grief support to patients and families.
- Grief support team: The grief support team offers support and organized groups to families for up to 13 months after a loved one's death. Arbor Hospice offers over 40 age and loss specific support groups throughout southeastern Michigan.
Where is hospice care provided? top of page
Hospice care is provided in patient homes, hospitals, nursing homes, assisted living facilities, and residential hospice facilities like our Arbor Hospice Residence in Ann Arbor.
Many people in our communities live alone in their homes. In this case, hospice works with the patient and family to plan for the time when the patient cannot live alone. Ideally, hospice care takes place in the comfort and privacy of a patient’s home. When this is not possible, residential hospice care is an option.
What is residential hospice care? top of page
When end of life care is provided in a special home-away-from-home such as the Arbor Hospice Residence, this type of care is known as residential hospice care.
Usually, residential hospice care is appropriate when:
- The caregiver
is frail, elderly, ill or otherwise unable to provide round-the-clock
care.
- The care
is too complex and difficult for a nonmedical person to perform confidently.
- Homes
are not suitable and cannot be adapted to meet intensive medical needs.
- 24-hour
nursing care is needed.
- Adult children are working full-time, live far away, and/or have their own families to care for.
When should hospice care begin? top of page
Ideally hospice care should begin when the focus changes from treatment of the disease to treatment of symptoms and comfort care. The decision to ask for hospice care is a personal one, but generally, the earlier patients and families begin to receive hospice services, the more they benefit.
If some of the following conditions describe your situation, consider hospice care:
- Treatment
will no longer cure the disease.
- Activities
of daily living have become difficult.
- Symptoms
are increasingly uncomfortable and difficult to manage.
- Pain is
not well controlled.
- The patient, family member, doctor, or others can ask for hospice care, but the patient’s own doctor must approve the admission.
How does hospice help families? top of page
Family members often question their ability to care for a very ill patient at home. Family members are understandably afraid of the burden of care and worry they won’t be able to do everything "right."
Once families become involved in hospice care, things change. Families are amazed that their nurse knows just when to teach them the next step, so they always know just what to do. And if they have an emergency, the on-call nurse is just a phone call away. As families successfully care for their loved one, they feel a great sense of accomplishment in doing so. Families also experience great satisfaction in knowing that their loved one is comfortable and can enjoy life to the fullest extent possible.
Who pays for hospice care? top of page
Hospice care is generally fully covered by Medicare, Medicaid, and most private pay insurance companies. Also, Arbor Hospice is a non-profit organization and admits patients based on need, not ability to pay.
What does the Medicare hospice benefit cover? top of page
- The services
of the hospice team.
- Medications
to control pain and relieve other symptoms.
- Five-day
respite care.
- Short-term
inpatient care to manage symptoms.
- Medical
supplies.
- Medical equipment.
The hospice benefit is available for a patient’s use for six months, but will continue until the patient’s death as long as the physician continues to certify the patient's appropriateness for hospice. For more information about Medicare coverage, visit the official U.S. Government Medicare website at www.medicare.gov.
Access Center
1-800-997-9266
Ann Arbor
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2366 Oak Valley Drive
Ann Arbor, MI 48103
Phone: (734) 662-5999
Fax: (734) 662-2330
Downriver
Click for map
19145 Allen Rd., #110
Trenton, MI 48183
Phone: (734) 486-4060
Fax: (734) 486-4061
Western Wayne
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331 N Center
Northville, MI 48167
Phone: (248) 348-4980
Fax:(248) 465-1845
Toll-free
1-888-992-CARE
Click here to view the Arbor Hospice Privacy Practices Notice. If you would like the agency to mail a copy to you, please email us or call 1-888-992-CARE (2273).