Hospice Care: A Case Study

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Introduction
Hospice care refers to care provided to individuals with incurable cases of diseases and are in the last stages of their lives. According to Connor (2009), the National Hospice, and Palliative Care Organization, describes hospice care as care and support for individuals suffering incurable diseases in a comfortable way to enjoy their lives fully. Individuals in hospice become prepared for death. It is not about bringing death closer or increasing a person life, is it about satisfaction in life. People facing terminal illness experience a range of problems and pain that may be attributed to a condition they face or may be based on psychosocial problems. Ideally, concern such as pain is common but other psychosocial problems include
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The patient has access to a full team of medical practitioners that include physicians, nurses, social workers and hospice volunteers. The atmosphere provided in a hospice is more welcoming and comfortable than that in a hospitable. In situations where hospices work in collaboration with hospitals, significant benefits can be available to the patient. According to Morrison, Meier and Capello (2003), hospice patients can have access to palliative care expertise. This is especially significant in situations where patients experience terminally ill complex diseases. Furthermore, Medicare Hospice benefit requires that hospice programs follow and adopt a certain standard in offering services that cover a holistic approach to care (Cowen, and Moorhead, 2014). This entails spiritual care, family bereavement services, and inpatient care. According to Newman and Newman (2005), the focus of hospice care shifts from treating the disease to improving the quality of life for the patients and his family. Additionally, the patient’s pain and suffering are eased via a variety of ways that cover spiritual, physical, psychological and medical aspects. In cases where individuals do not have families, hospice care provides a support system for these people and hence do not have to face death alone. The patient experiences physical, spiritual and emotional comfort as death approaches and during …show more content…
Life review allows for certain events, feelings and roles to be remembered as an attempt to find meaning (Metcalf, 2013). Life review provides information that assists families to come closer together while at the same time passing on knowledge from one generation to the next. The ability to a patient o share with the family and view items such as photographs and music elicit memories, which can contribute to a reduction in depression, improvement in the psychological well-being and self-esteem of the patient (Metcalf, 2013). According to Metcalf (2013), the eight stage of Erikson’s Theory aims to maintain a person’s identity and self-esteem from the evaluations of integrity and despair. Metcalf (2013) notes that for a hospice patient identity and self-esteem deal with a dignity. Emotional comfort dignifies such a