![\"Hospice](\"https:\/\/s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com\/img.prod.aplaceformom.com\/main\/uploads\/sa-blog\/2016\/05\/Hospice-350x293.jpg\")
<\/h1>\n<\/h1>\nMaking the right care decisions as a loved one moves toward their final days isn\u2019t cut and dry. You want to make their remaining time as comfortable as possible, and will likely need to enlist the aid of some professional help in order to do so.<\/p>\n
Medicare will help cover some of the costs you incur in hiring the help you need, but it puts many families in the position of making a difficult decision: should you choose hospice care or a nursing home?<\/p>\n
Medicare\u2019s reimbursement guidelines will only cover one or the other, so how can you decide which is the best choice for your loved one?<\/p>\n
Hospice care is professional care provided to people believed to be within a few months of death. Where most health care is focused on helping people to recover, hospice shifts the focus to making life as comfortable as possible for the time remaining.<\/p>\n
Hospice care can take place within an institution<\/a><\/strong>, or you can hire someone to come into the home<\/a><\/strong> to provide it. Since most seniors prefer to die in their own homes, if given the chance to choose, hospice care provided in the home is often the preferred end-of-life option for seniors themselves.<\/p>\n Nursing homes<\/a> provide a place to live and 24\/7 care from licensed health care professionals. Unlike hospice, nursing homes aren\u2019t designed to ease the suffering of a person about to die, they aim to help the person recover, and if at all possible, even move back out once they\u2019re well enough.<\/p>\n Nursing homes take care of everything a senior needs for the time they\u2019re in there (other than familial love and attention, of course, that\u2019s still the job of the family). Meals, cleaning, and medical care are all part of the deal.<\/p>\n For seniors that no longer have the skills or capacity to take care of themselves when it comes to basic day-to-day tasks like getting dressed or remembering to take their meds, nursing homes step in to fill the gap, while also providing medical staff that can immediately respond to any serious emergencies or health problems that may arise.<\/p>\n In most cases, family members simply aren\u2019t trained in what\u2019s involved in taking care of loved ones with particular illnesses or general failing health. The staff at nursing homes are. While staying at home often seems the most comfortable option for seniors, nursing homes often end up being the most practical one.<\/p>\n The main difference between the two options is the main goal behind them:<\/p>\n The options aren\u2019t mutually exclusive. It is possible to hire hospice to provide their services to a senior living in a nursing home. But while both are covered by Medicare, they\u2019re rarely covered at the same time. You can usually only make use of both services if you can cover the cost of nursing home care yourself.<\/p>\n The biggest challenge that comes with deciding when to choose hospice or nursing home care is knowing when the time has come for hospice care<\/a><\/strong>. The generally accepted standard is that hospice care is for people that have six months or less to live. Yet while doctors can offer their best prognosis, no one really knows when someone\u2019s going to die.<\/a> It\u2019s not an exact science.<\/p>\n That often makes the question a difficult one for families. It\u2019s important to be aware that choosing to accept hospice care doesn\u2019t mean giving up or rushing the process of death. The choice can come with unnecessary guilt if you approach it that way. It\u2019s simply a different type of care that supplies what your loved one needs when they\u2019ve reached the point when they\u2019re ready.<\/p>\n Talk to your loved one about what they want. If they have dementia, you may have to make some of these decisions for them, but still take the time to discuss it with them and hear what they have to say. Then talk to their doctor together. See what the doctor feels the prognosis is and hear what they recommend for your loved one.<\/p>\n The simple answer is that if your loved one has accepted that death is near and they\u2019re prepared for it \u2013 and their doctor agrees \u2013 then hospice is the better choice. If it looks like there\u2019s a good chance they can kick this and live for years to come, then a nursing home makes the most sense.<\/p>\n But these things aren\u2019t simple. So you also need to consider:<\/p>\n Ultimately, only you and your family can decide what the right choice is for you. Both options have their benefits and they\u2019re both the right choice in different situations. Weigh all the factors and try to do what\u2019s best for your loved one.<\/p>\n We all know intellectually that dying is something we\u2019ll all experience at some point. That knowledge doesn\u2019t make facing it any easier, but the right help at the time you need it most does.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Hospice vs Nursing Home Making the right care decisions as a loved one moves toward their final days isn\u2019t cut and dry. You want to make their remaining time as comfortable as possible, and will likely need to enlist the aid of some professional help in order to do so. Medicare will help cover some of the costs you incur […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2199,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[200,27,5,2],"tags":[191,332],"class_list":{"0":"post-9265","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-families-caregivers","7":"category-in-home-care","8":"category-nursing-home","9":"category-senior-living","10":"tag-end-of-life-care","11":"tag-nursing-home-2"},"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nWhat is a Nursing Home?<\/h2>\n
What Are the Differences?<\/h2>\n
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Which One is Right For Your Loved One?<\/h2>\n
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