Hospice care is a care option for terminally ill people. A team of healthcare professionals provides comfort and dignity for people who are dying by easing their pain. Hospice care is also covered by Medicare insurance.

1. Waiting Too Long for
Hospice Care Worsens End-
of-Life Suffering
Center for Hospice Care

2. Hospice care is a care option for terminally ill people. A team of healthcare professionals provides
comfort and dignity for people who are dying by easing their pain. Hospice care is also covered by
Medicare insurance.
Unfortunately, only 48 percent of Medicare decedents received at least one day of hospice care in 2016,
according to the National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization. These numbers show how some who
may need hospice care do not take advantage of its services. A 2017 study published in the Journal of the
American Geriatric Society corroborated this, finding that many terminally-ill people wait too long to
enroll in hospice care.

3. Late Access to Hospice
Researchers from the Yale University School of Medicine looked at hospice enrollment for decedents
from a group of 54 people aged 70 and older. Of the 562 people who passed away during the study, only
43 percent used hospice care in their final year of life. What's more, the median time they spent under
hospice care was only 12 days.
The researchers said that many of the patients suffered from pain, nausea, and depression, among many
other symptoms of their sickness. They observed that for those who received hospice care, these
symptoms decreased substantially. It means that people who died without enrolling in hospice care may
have needlessly suffered for months.

4. The Right Time for Hospice Care
Hospice care is recommended for people with terminal illness. If their physician says they only have six
months to live, that's the best time to give them hospice care.
The presence of symptoms such as depression, shortness of breath, and severe pain may be alleviated
through hospice care. The progressing symptoms of terminal illness also make it hard for patients and
their family to take care of themselves. Hospice care is designed to help with these activities.
"It's challenging to have honest discussions with patients and families about death and the dying
process," research author Thomas Gill said. "But leaving the conversation until the very end makes it
more difficult."

5. Sources:
https://www.cfhcare.org/
https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/jgs.15041
https://www.nhpco.org/sites/default/files/public/Statistics_Research/2017_Facts_Figures.pdf
https://www.consumerreports.org/hospice-care/when-to-consider-hospice-care/
https://www.nhpco.org/press-room/press-releases/research-finds-hospice-comes-too-late-many