Column - Know your options for hospice and palliative care - November is National Hospice and Palliative Care Month

Every November, Delaware Hospice works to build awareness and demonstrate the impact we can make as hospice and palliative care celebrate National Hospice and Palliative Care Month. Know Your Options is the theme for November's National Hospice and Palliative Care Month 2016. The benefits that hospice and palliative care provides to a patient and family are improved quality of life as well as medical cost savings.

Every year more than 1.58 million Americans living with a life-limiting illness receive care from hospice and palliative care providers. These services offer more than traditional medicine, by providing expert pain management, symptom control, social support and spiritual care to patients and their loved ones.

Delaware Hospice's interdisciplinary team includes a medical director, registered nurses, certified nursing assistants, social workers, chaplains, adult and child bereavement counselors and volunteers. This type of care not only supports the patient but the family through help with the activities of daily living, delivery of supplies, education on medications about the illness and what to expect in the days and months ahead.

Many people only consider hospice care in the final days of life but hospice is ideally suited to care for patients and family caregivers earlier in their illness. In fact, hospice is most effective for patients and their families when families can take full advantage of the range of services hospice provides. Hospice is fully covered by Medicare, Medicaid and most private insurance plans.

Delaware Palliative brings a similar interdisciplinary team approach as hospice care does. Palliative care can be provided along with curative treatments still being received from a doctor. The goal of palliative care is to ease treatment and illness symptoms while improving quality of life. While the clinical benefits of early palliative care are well known, new research in the Journal of Clinical Oncology also indicates that receiving palliative services can reduce both lengths of stay at a hospital and medical costs.

Hospice and palliative care also improve patient satisfaction and outcomes such as pain, depression and other symptoms. Some data suggests that palliative and hospice care, compared with traditional care, prolongs life. By helping patients get the care they need, hospice and palliative care help avoid unnecessary tests, emergency department visits and hospital stays. In fact, Delaware Hospice is a recognized leader in Delaware for their success in lowering hospital readmissions. Both hospice and palliative care are delivered in the home, or anywhere the patient is residing, including nursing and assisted living facilities.

Delaware Hospice and Delaware Palliative are honored to join The National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization in celebrating National Hospice and Palliative Care Month this November by highlighting the role that hospice and palliative care plays in providing comfort, love, dignity and respect to individuals and families living with serious illness. Hospice and palliative care are available to people of all ages with any serious or advanced illness.

If you or a loved one is living with an advanced illness, Delaware Hospice and Delaware Palliative can help you decide which service is best to meet your needs. Living with a serious illness can impact every part of your life as you cope with not only the physical changes, but also the emotional and spiritual effects. We offer a vast range of expert guidance, care and support. Every day, we help people live with comfort and dignity. Our care is focused on improving quality of life. By helping patients manage their illness, we help them regain days that are more fully lived. Together, we'll develop a plan of care appropriate for you and your family. For more information, call 800-838-9800 or go to www.delawarehospice.org.

Tracy Tull, RN, MSN, CHPCA is Delaware Hospice vice president, compliance and education.