Insights

Ten Myths about Hospice Care

Clearing the fog surrounding hospice care during National Hospice & Palliative Care Month

Shanon Strickler

11/05/2020

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Ten Myths about Hospice Care

Hospice isn’t a place and is offered where the patient lives. care is for patients that are living with a serious illness and wish to focus on comfort and maybe in the last 6 months of life. is about living as fully as possible, surrounded by family and friends, up until the end of life. Last year, more than1.5 million dying Americans were served by the nation’s hospice providers, reports the National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization. Yet there are many myths about hospice that keep people from getting this compassionate care when they need it most.

MYTH	REALITY
Hospice is where you go when there is nothing more a doctor can do.	Hospice is not a place, it is a philosophy of care providing medical, emotional, and spiritual care focusing on comfort and quality of life.
Good care at the end of life is very expensive.	Medicare beneficiaries pay little or nothing for hospice, and most insurance plans, HMOs and managed care plans include hospice coverage.
Hospice is only for the last few days of life.	Hospice patients and families can receive care for six months or longer, depending upon the course of the illness.
Choosing hospice means giving up all medical treatment.	Hospice places the patient and family at the center of the care-planning process and provides high-quality pain management and symptom control with the focus of comfort.
Everyone dies in a hospital.	Hospice goes to the patient and family at home—whether that’s a private home, a nursing home or assisted living facility, or a hospice residence.
Hospice is only for cancer patients.	Fifty percent of hospice patients are diagnosed with conditions other than cancer.
Families are not able to care for people with terminal illnesses.	Hospice involves families and offers them professional support and training in caring for their loved ones.
Hospice is just for the elderly.	Hospice serves anyone facing a life-limiting illness, regardless of age.
There’s no hospice in my area.	Less than one percent of Medicare beneficiaries live in an area where hospice is not available.