When Should You Start Hospice Care?

It’s necessary to start hospice care for many reasons, but most often upon the recommendation of your doctor or after a terminal diagnosis. When a doctor recognizes that treatment should move from curing to caring, they will recommend hospice care.

The doctor and other caregivers are important members of your care team. Recommending hospice care is not easy for anyone, but it’s done with the utmost respect and love for the patient and their family.

Receiving a serious or terminal diagnosis may also indicate that hospice care may be needed in the future. It’s important to know that hospice care is not synonymous with dying. With a terminal diagnosis, death may not occur for months or even years. Hospice care is much more beneficial when started sooner rather than later.

What to do next

A patient’s doctor will need to approve hospice care, but he or she is not always the one to recommend it. A family member can make the first call to hospice. At the end of the day, it’s about making sure a patient feels comfortable and loved. Researching hospice care upfront is helpful later when emotions may be running high.

At Santé, we believe terminally ill patients and their families should have a positive quality of life during hospice care. That’s why we provide quality care when it matters most. Hospice care is tailored to the patient’s needs and typically assists with pain management and emotional support.

Santé Hospice provides a comprehensive and compassionate range of services. We recognize that each individual’s needs are different, so we are available 24 hours a day, seven days a week. We use an interdisciplinary approach to address the treatment of mind, body, and soul.

To ensure our patients receive a compassionate continuum of care, Santé Hospice is available throughout Maricopa County. For more information, please call 480.748.4300 or click here.