November is National Home Care and Hospice Month, a time to honor the millions of home care professionals who provide essential health care services to patients and families in their homes. Home care and hospice workers include nurses, therapists, social workers, aides, and volunteers who offer compassionate and personalized care to those who need it most. Home care and hospice care are vital for many people who face chronic illnesses, disabilities, or terminal conditions. They allow patients to receive quality care in the comfort and dignity of their own homes, while also reducing the costs and risks associated with institutional
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Archives for hospice
The importance of hospice, in numbers
According to the Hospice Foundation of America, the word “hospice” finds its roots in the Latin word “hospitium,” which means guesthouse. In its original form, it was a place of shelter for weary and sick travelers returning from religious pilgrimages. Today, it still holds on to those roots, but does so in a different way. “During the 1960's, Dr. Cicely Saunders, a British physician began the modern hospice movement by establishing St. Christopher's Hospice near London,” the Hospice Foundation of America explains. “St. Christopher's organized a team approach to professional caregiving, and was the first program to use modern pain
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Giving care and dignity through hospice services
Dignity, respect, and emotional and physical comfort are basic human requests. Although a stranger can fulfill some of these needs – by opening a door or giving a smile – it is most often our friends and loved ones who can help to provide them. A time may come in a loved one’s life, however, when a special level of care and comfort are needed. During these times when a life-limiting illness no longer responds to cure-oriented treatments, hospice caregivers, like those at Freedom Home Care, can step in. According to the Hospice Foundation of America, hospice is not a
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