Finding out your loved one has a serious illness can create challenging conversations, especially when it comes to deciding proper care. You may have heard about hospice care, but do you know the difference between hospice Los Angeles and palliative care? In this article, we will discuss the key differences between these two types of care and explain how each can help you support your loved one in need.
Hospice care focuses on improving the quality of life for a terminally ill patient. This type of care is also referred to as “end-of-life” care because it provides patients compassionate support in the advanced stages of an untreatable disease.
Palliative care is specialized medical care for individuals living with a serious illness. This type of care focuses on providing relief from painful symptoms and stress induced by the illness. The focus of care is put on the patient rather than their diagnosis.
Ultimately, the goal of palliative care is to improve a patient’s quality of life and support the patient’s family. Palliative care can be offered to people at any age or stage of illness. It can also be used in addition to curative treatment.
Even though both Los Angeles hospice and palliative care aim to provide relief from pain and symptoms during a serious illness, they have their differences.
Hospice care is meant to offer comfort care without the intention of curing a patient’s condition either because all treatment options have been exhausted or the patient has decided to stop treatment. Alternatively, palliative care offers comfort care with or without the means of curing a patient. In other words, hospice patients are facing an end-of-life path while palliative patients are typically facing a serious, but curable illness.
There is also a difference in location between palliative and hospice care. Hospice care is provided wherever a patient is located, which means it can be offered at home, in available hospice residences. For example, you could find a hospice in Pasadena. Hospice care is also offered in nursing homes, assisted living facilities, veterans’ facilities, and hospitals.
On the other hand, palliative caregivers usually work in hospitals. In some cases, home palliative care can be an option.
Hospice care is typically fully covered by Medicare, Medicaid, and private insurance. Medicare covers the price of medications, equipment, access to care, nursing, social services, chaplain visits, and grief support following a death, in addition to other services.
Palliative care is paid for by insurance, individually, or sometimes by a charity or nonprofit group.
If a patient wants to qualify for Medicare hospice benefits, they have to have two physicians certify that the patient’s life expectancy is less than six months. On the other hand, palliative care can start at a patient and the patient’s physician’s discretion. It can start at any time, during any stage of a patient’s illness regardless of whether or not the illness is terminal.
Are you looking for ways to support a loved one with a serious illness? You can get in touch with the staff at Faith and Hope Hospice Care in Los Angeles for more information on their services.