Hospice Education

Know what to expect during your loved one’s biggest life journey

Hospice education provides appropriate and timely information to help you understand and respond to transitions your loved one passes through as he or she approaches the end of life. Learning to recognize the stages of a life-limiting illness and understanding normal changes as they happen, may help you, your family and your loved one feel less anxious about Hospice care.

Overview

Hospice education provides appropriate and timely information to help you understand and respond to transitions your loved one passes through as he or she approaches the end of life. Learning to recognize the stages of a life-limiting illness and understanding normal changes as they happen, may help you, your family and your loved one feel less anxious about Hospice care.

Everyone processes the end of life experience in their own way. Whether you have a terminal illness, or you’re caring for a loved one who does, Hospice education teaches you what you need to know at appropriate times during the process.

Hospice education can be provided in your home or another care setting. Education from your hospice team provides valuable information about supporting your family through the end-of-life process as well as taking care of your own needs.

Hospice education includes services for:

The Patient

Changes brought on by terminal illness may cause your loved one to have anxiety or depression. Knowing how a life-limiting condition progresses may help him or her accept and pass through these transitions more easily. Illness-related events may arise any time of the day or night. Your nurse, social worker or chaplain will respond with appropriate care. Hospice care providers help ease symptoms and communicate clearly with your loved one so he or she can understand what is happening to the body and what is likely to follow.

The Family

You and your family may not be prepared for the changes that terminal illness can cause in your loved one. Any time you have questions as the illness progresses, a Hospice nurse, social worker, or chaplain will respond with the information you may need about the condition and what changes it will bring. Sometimes this means education about coming events early in hospice care, while other times it means information on what is happening to a loved one as they transition from one stage of illness to the next.

Often families do not recognize that prolonging life is not the only response to terminal illness. Hospice education helps you understand what a large impact hospice may have on quality of life and may reach out to suggest the move to hospice when it’s time.

Care Staff

Staff at long-term care and other facilities may not be familiar with disease processes in patients under hospice care. Hospice education offered through in-service sessions provides information about the appropriate responses to patient needs and support for families facing terminal illness.

Physicians

Many patients enter hospice with cancer, heart disease or pulmonary conditions and physicians may help maintain therapeutic care for these patients to extend life as long as possible. Many patients want to pass away at home surrounded by family, so prolonged treatment in a hospital is not always the best option.

Hospice education communicates this desire to physicians in semiformal education sessions, where we provide them information about when and how to suggest to families that it may be time for hospice care.

The Community

Community education raises awareness about hospice and contributes to family decision-making. Our speakers’ bureau serves as a community resource to teach the community about terminal illness, its progression and its treatment.

What To Expect

Everyone processes the end of life experience in their own way. Whether you have a terminal illness, or you’re caring for a loved one who does, Hospice education teaches you what you need to know at appropriate times during the process.

Hospice education can be provided in your home or another care setting. Education from your hospice team provides valuable information about supporting your family through the end-of-life process as well as taking care of your own needs.

Hospice education includes services for:

The Patient

Changes brought on by terminal illness may cause your loved one to have anxiety or depression. Knowing how a life-limiting condition progresses may help him or her accept and pass through these transitions more easily. Illness-related events may arise any time of the day or night. Your nurse, social worker or chaplain will respond with appropriate care. Hospice care providers help ease symptoms and communicate clearly with your loved one so he or she can understand what is happening to the body and what is likely to follow.

The Family

You and your family may not be prepared for the changes that terminal illness can cause in your loved one. Any time you have questions as the illness progresses, a Hospice nurse, social worker, or chaplain will respond with the information you may need about the condition and what changes it will bring. Sometimes this means education about coming events early in hospice care, while other times it means information on what is happening to a loved one as they transition from one stage of illness to the next.

Often families do not recognize that prolonging life is not the only response to terminal illness. Hospice education helps you understand what a large impact hospice may have on quality of life and may reach out to suggest the move to hospice when it’s time.

Care Staff

Staff at long-term care and other facilities may not be familiar with disease processes in patients under hospice care. Hospice education offered through in-service sessions provides information about the appropriate responses to patient needs and support for families facing terminal illness.

Physicians

Many patients enter hospice with cancer, heart disease or pulmonary conditions and physicians may help maintain therapeutic care for these patients to extend life as long as possible. Many patients want to pass away at home surrounded by family, so prolonged treatment in a hospital is not always the best option.

Hospice education communicates this desire to physicians in semiformal education sessions, where we provide them information about when and how to suggest to families that it may be time for hospice care.

The Community

Community education raises awareness about hospice and contributes to family decision-making. Our speakers’ bureau serves as a community resource to teach the community about terminal illness, its progression and its treatment.

Resources