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What Happens When Someone Dies at Home with Hospice Care?
Date Updated: December 14, 2024
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Sarah has produced thousands of articles in diverse niches over her decade-long career as a full-time freelance writer. This includes substantial content in the fields of senior care and health care. She has experience writing about wide-ranging topics, such as types of care, care costs, funding options, state Medicaid programs and senior resources.
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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.
When someone dies at home with hospice care, the care team provides immediate support to the family, washes the body and arranges for a funeral home to collect the deceased. In many states, hospice nurses can confirm death and complete the necessary post-death administrative tasks.
Home Deaths in the United States
Research suggests that about 70% of older Americans want to die at home rather than in a hospital or other inpatient facility. In-home hospice care allows many seniors to spend their final days in the comfort of their private residences, close to family and pets. When an individual’s condition is stable and manageable with visiting support services, caregivers regularly visit their home to provide a range of holistic care services.
Terminally ill people usually choose hospice care when their doctor says that their estimated remaining time is 6 months or less. Life-prolonging treatments stop, and services re-center on enhancing comfort and promoting quality of life. The National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization states that more than 1.7 million Americans received hospice care in 2020. Moreover, many hospice care patients remain at home for end-of-life support. Studies also indicate an upturn in the number of people dying at home across the nation.
Steps Following the Death of an At-Home Hospice Care Recipient
Because patients may pass away in the absence of a professional hospice worker, relatives must contact their care team if they think someone is near death or has died. Conversely, caregivers must notify close relatives if patients die with no family present. Typically, states don’t mandate autopsies when a person’s death is due to natural causes that are consistent with their medical conditions, and many jurisdictions permit hospice nurses to declare patients dead. In addition to completing administrative tasks, the hospice staff offers immediate emotional and spiritual support to the deceased's loved ones.
Hospice workers also respectfully prepare the body for transportation. This preparation involves washing the body or assisting relatives with their loved one's bathing, closing the eyes and mouth and dressing the body. If required, caregivers contact a local funeral provider on behalf of kin and cover the body while waiting for transportation. Hospice care usually includes grief counseling for families following a loss.