Contact: Debbie Mosbacher 832.410.3198 [email protected] Patients are eligible for hospice care when they have six months or less to live. However, clinicians agree that prognosticating life expectancy can be difficult. There may be many different factors to take into account. If any of the following apply to a patient, it may be time to discuss his or her preferences … [Read more...]

Considered tho be the model for quality, compassionate care for people facing a life- limiting illness or injury, hospice care involves a team- oriented approach to expert medical care, pain management, and emotional and spiritual support expressly tailored to the patient's needs and wishes. Support is provided to the patient's loved ones as well. At the center of hospice and palliative care is … [Read more...]

Grief may be experienced in response to physical losses, such as death, or in response to symbolic or social losses such as divorce of loss of a job. The grief experience can be affected by one's history and support system. Taking care of yourself and accessing the support of friends and family can help you cope with your grief experience. There is no right way to grieve. It is an individual … [Read more...]

People facing a fatal illness often find their fears and pain exacerbated by lack of control -- with doctors poking and prodding and treating and testing even as the end grows near. Hospice care, however, can give back some control over someone's final days through its compassionate focus on treating pain and helping both the dying person and the person's family emotionally grapple with what's … [Read more...]

How Do I Know if I Need Help? One of the biggest hurdles many family caregivers face is reaching out for help. Between knowing what to ask, when to ask, and whom to ask – taking such action can be challenging. Whether due to uncertainty, reluctance or refusal, not reaching out for help can eventually cause caregiver burnout – physical, mental or emotional exhaustion that impedes on the … [Read more...]

Losing someone close to you can make you feel sad, lost, alone, and maybe even angry. You greatly miss the person who has died—you want them back. You might have also been so busy with caregiving that it now seems you have nothing to do. This can add to your feelings of loss. This is all part of grieving, a normal reaction to the loss of someone you love. There are many ways to grieve and to … [Read more...]

The vast majority of Americans say what they want at the end of life is to die in their own homes, as comfortable and pain free as possible. The hospice philosophy is about making sure that a patient's experience reflects their wishes.Here are five ways that hospice helps to deliver this: Sugarland Hospices gives you comfort. Hospices are experts at managing life limiting illnesses. The hospice … [Read more...]

It can be overwhelming to be asked to make health care decisions for someone who is dying and no longer able to make his or her own decisions. It is even more difficult if you do not have written or even verbal guidance. How do you decide what type of care is right for someone? Even when you have written documents, some decisions still might not be clear. Two approaches might be useful. One is … [Read more...]

Contact: Debbie Mosbacher 832.410.3192 As the demand for care and services in assisted living and residential care increases, so too does the use of home care, home health, and hospice. But it can be confusing to understand the difference between these providers and the services they offer. Fortunately, the Accredited Hospices of America services provides a clear beakdown of these … [Read more...]

At the end of life, each story is different. Death comes suddenly, or a person lingers, gradually failing. For some older people, the body weakens while the mind stays alert. Others remain physically strong, and cognitive losses take a huge toll. But for everyone, death is inevitable, and each loss is personally felt by those close to the one who has died. End-of-life care is the term used to … [Read more...]