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How Much Home Health Care Will Hospice Provide?
Date Updated: January 12, 2025
Written by:
Lauren Ferguson has over five years of experience as a freelance writer, specializing in senior care topics such as assisted living and memory care. She holds a degree in Liberal Studies and English from the University of Illinois Springfield. Having navigated the process of placing her mother in a long-term care community, Lauren offers a unique insider's perspective to families facing similar situations.
Reviewed by:
Dr. Brindusa Vanta is a health care professional, researcher, and an experienced medical writer (2000+ articles published online and several medical ebooks). She received her MD degree from “Iuliu Hatieganu” University of Medicine, Romania, and her HD diploma from OCHM – Toronto, Canada.
Hospice provides as much home health care as medically required by the patient. Before starting hospice care, a physician creates a plan that considers the patient's needs. This plan offers various services, with the potential of standard home health care, to provide comfort to individuals during the last stages of a terminal illness.
Services Hospice Care Covers
Hospice care prioritizes pain management and quality of life for individuals facing a terminal diagnosis rather than a cure for their illness. It typically begins with a comprehensive assessment of the patient's needs. A physician, along with other medical professionals, evaluates the individual's condition to create a personalized care plan, outlining the specific services required to provide optimal comfort. This plan may include:
- Nursing Care: Registered nurses provide direct patient care, including symptom management and medication administration.
- Physician Services: Doctors oversee the medical aspects of care and adjust treatment plans as necessary.
- Medical Equipment and Supplies: Care provides necessary medical equipment and prescription drugs for pain and symptom management.
- Home Health Care: Home health aides assist with activities of daily living, meal preparation and light housekeeping tasks.
- Therapies: Physical, occupational and speech therapies help patients maintain functional skills.
How Home Health Care Can Help
Home health care, either as part of hospice care or as a separate service, focuses on delivering hands-on support and assisting individuals with daily activities they can no longer manage independently due to their illness. Home health aides perform the following tasks:
- Personal Care and Light Cleaning: Assisting with bathing, dressing, toileting and household maintenance
- Mobility Support: Assisting with transfers from bed to chair or providing support while walking
- Meal Preparation: Preparing simple meals according to dietary restrictions and providing assistance with feeding
- Medication Reminders: Helping with medications that patients can self-administer
- Basic Medical Care: Changing non-sterile dressings and providing routine care of prosthetic and orthotic devices (under the supervision of a nurse)
- Companionship: Offering companionship and engaging patients in conversations and activities to reduce feelings of isolation