If someone is dealing with a debilitating disease, you have already heard a lot about pain management. Palliative care and hospice care are words you might have used. Both refer to assisted living and intended to provide support and relaxation, but they vary in key respects. There is a lot of confusion in both terms, and it is high time to eradicate the prevalent confusion. This article aims to clear up any misunderstandings by debunking a common misconception about hospice and palliative care.

Are Palliative care and Hospice care the same thing?

Palliative care is a medical specialty that reduces discomfort and treats side effects from infection and treatment rather than combating disease. Palliative care can benefit people of all ages and stages of the disease. On the other hand, hospice care is a type of care that focuses on improving the quality of life for patients with advanced, life-limiting illnesses and their caregivers. Hospice treatment gives patients in the final stages of an incurable condition special care so that they can survive as safely as possible. When a hospital practitioner and hospice service determines that a patient has six months or less to live, they may receive hospice treatment.

Google Translation of Hospice and Palliative care:

Google’s translation of “hospice” gives the word in Chinese that means “last-minute treatment,” while the phrase “do nothing care” is the literal version of “palliative care,” according to Google. This misunderstanding of these facilities is extremely troublesome because it causes communication problems across communities, making people with chronic or terminal diseases unable to get the treatment they need to live their better life on a physical, mental, and spiritual basis.

Death is quickened in hospice?

It is indisputable that many hospice patients pass away shortly after beginning treatment. However, the explanation for this is not that hospice kills people; instead, doctors sometimes take too long to send terminally sick patients to the hospice.

 However, in reality, studies indicate that elderly patients in hospice care tend to live longer. Stopping intensive surgical procedures that stress weakened patients, increasing personal care, supervision, and treatments, and hospice’s focus on addressing patients’ mental and spiritual needs are examples of how hospice helps in increasing the life span of a patient.

You have to leave home for receiving hospice treatment:

It is another common misconception about hospice care. Hospice care is mainly provided at home, but it may also be provided in skilled nursing, assisted living, or elderly family homes. When a patient is receiving hospice home treatment, the majority of the care is provided by family members, relatives, or hired caregivers. Where appropriate, they and the patient are guided by hospice nurses who are on hand 24 hours a day, seven days a week, and consult daily to review the patient and the treatment.

The emphasis of hospice is on assisting patients in living well and improving the quality of life rather than on death. It is like deciding between convenience and quality of life and attempting to cure the problem. You can, however, change your mind. Some people who attend hospice feel better after that. In any case, you will be able to leave hospice and get further medication and treatment.