Hospice care utilizes a patient and family-centered approach designed to give you supportive care in the final phase of a terminal illness. The goal of hospice care is to focus on your comfort and quality of life, rather than cure, so that you may live each day as fully as possible in a setting of your choice with loved ones nearby.
The VNH Hospice interdisciplinary team serves a very important role in making this happen. The team includes doctors, nurses, home health aides, medical social workers, spiritual care counselors, and trained volunteers who work together to address your physical, emotional, and spiritual needs. Your VNH Hospice team will work with you to develop a care plan designed to meet your individual needs for symptom management, while supporting your loved ones.
How hospice helps
- Pain and symptom management at the end of life
- Emotional and spiritual support for both patients and families
- Coordination of available community services and end of life planning
- Home health aides for dressing, bathing, and tidying
- 24/7 nurse support by phone to help with changes in clinical status
Questions about hospice
When medical treatments have been exhausted and the burden of treatment outweighs the benefits, hospice can help to bring comfort and quality of life to you and your family. Hospice allows you to receive medical care with a focus on comfort rather than cure, and provides peace of mind for you and your loved ones.
Hospice services are delivered wherever the patient calls “home,” whether in his or her personal residence, in a nursing home, or in an assisted living facility.
Yes. It is a benefit you can revoke at any time without any penalty.
Hospice care is covered by Medicare nationwide, by Medicaid in some states - including Vermont and New Hampshire - and by most private health insurance policies. VNH Hospice provides care for all, regardless of ability to pay.
Anyone can contact VNH Hospice. The patient and family should feel free to discuss hospice care at any time with their physician, other health care professionals, clergy, or friends. Contact us any time to learn more about hospice.
No. While the focus of hospice is care rather than cure, hospice is not intended for the last days of life only. In fact, hospice care can be most effective for patients and families in the final months of life when patients and families can benefit from the range of services hospice provides.
We provide continuing contact and support for family and friends for at least a year following the death of a loved one. In addition, we also offer community bereavement and support groups for those who have experienced the death of a family member, a friend, or a loved one.
Jack Byrne Center for Palliative & Hospice Care
As a proud member of Dartmouth Health, VNH collaborates with the Jack Byrne Center for Palliative & Hospice Care, a resource to improve end-of-life care when circumstances prevent patients from staying at home. The Jack Byrne Center provides personalized care, community programming, clinical research and education opportunities to patients and families in our community.
