United Hospice & Homecare of Augusta

Committed to Caring

Hospice, in the earliest days, was a concept rooted in the centuries-old idea of offering a place of shelter and rest, or “hospitality” to weary and sick travelers on a long journey. Dame Cicely Saunders at St. Christopher’s Hospice in London first applied the term “hospice” to specialized care for dying patients in 1967. Today, hospice care provides humane and compassionate care for people in the last phases of incurable disease so that they may live as fully and comfortably as possible.

Hospice is a philosophy of care. The hospice philosophy recognizes death as the final stage of life and seeks to enable patients to continue an alert, pain-free life and to manage other symptoms so that their last days may be spent with dignity and quality, surrounded by their loved ones. Hospice affirms life and does not hasten or postpone death. Hospice care treats the person rather than the disease; it highlights quality rather than length of life. It provides family-centered care involving the patient and family in making decisions. Care is provided for the patient and family 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Hospice care can be given in the patient’s home, a hospital, nursing home, or private hospice facility. Most hospice care in the United States is given in the home, with a family member or members serving as the main hands-on caregiver.

Hospice care is appropriate when you can no longer benefit from curative treatment and you have a life expectancy of six months or less if the terminal illness runs its normal course. You, your family, and your doctor decide together when hospice services should begin. One of the problems with beginning hospice is that it is often not started soon enough. Sometimes the doctor, patient or family member will resist trying hospice because he or she feels it sends a message of no hope. This is not true. If your condition improves or the disease goes into remission, you can be discharged from the hospice program and return to active cancer treatment, if desired. Hospice care may be resumed at a later time. The hope that hospice brings is the hope of a quality life, day-to-day, during the stage of advanced illness.

Who Should be Referred for Hospice Care?
When the hospice movement in the United States began nearly 30 years ago, it was viewed primarily as care for end-stage cancer patients. But the types of illnesses in patients served by hospice have evolved over the years along with the criteria for admission to our program.

Today, slightly fewer than half of our patients do have cancer, but we care for and have expertise in the care of patients with many life-limiting illnesses and conditions. In addition to cancer, this list includes:
AIDS
Alzheimer’s Disease
ALS, also known as “Lou Gehrig’s Disease”
Cardiomyopathy
Congestive Heart Failure
Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease
Emphysema
Heart disease
Liver disease
Renal or respiratory/pulmonary disease (end stage)
Stroke
Sometimes in the last months of life, people may simply lose weight and become weaker. Adult Failure to Thrive and Dementia are acceptable hospice diagnoses.

How can United Hospice help patients that are deemed to have a terminal condition?
When a person nears the end of life, he or she deserves to live the rest of their life, fully comfortably, and with dignity. Toward this goal, the United Hospice team provides dedicated quality holistic care, treating the physical, social, and spiritual being as the patient approaches his or her final days.

• Comfort, care and support
• Emotional care, support, and closure
• Personal and spiritual peace
• Self-respect
• The fullness of and respect for life

Who pays for services?
Hospice service benefits are provided by most insurance companies, Medicare, and Medicaid. United Hospice provides hospice service regardless of the patients ability to pay.

Who is eligible for hospice services?
Individuals are eligible for hospice care if:

• They have a life-limiting illness
• They are referred to hospice by their physician
• They choose hospice care