Answer:
It is important to understand how hospice care provides medical and support services
for patients with a terminal illness. The decision to begin hospice care is based
on many factors, including the state of your father's disease, his predicted life
expectancy and - most importantly - his own wishes for how he wants to approach his
cancer treatment and the end of his life.
If your father and the family agree that its time for hospice care rather than continued curative treatment for his cancer, it is important that he and the family have a conference with his primary care physician or oncologist. A physician must certify that he has a terminal illness and is likely to have less than six months to live if the cancer follows it usual course. The six-month window is not a true prediction, but an indication that the time is right for hospice services. Many hospice patients outlive that six month prediction and, depending on their condition, may be re-certified for continuing hospice services.
Once you have this referral to hospice care, the hospice staff can answer all your questions about medical services and supportive services available to your father - and you, as family.
If your father and the family agree that its time for hospice care rather than continued curative treatment for his cancer, it is important that he and the family have a conference with his primary care physician or oncologist. A physician must certify that he has a terminal illness and is likely to have less than six months to live if the cancer follows it usual course. The six-month window is not a true prediction, but an indication that the time is right for hospice services. Many hospice patients outlive that six month prediction and, depending on their condition, may be re-certified for continuing hospice services.
Once you have this referral to hospice care, the hospice staff can answer all your questions about medical services and supportive services available to your father - and you, as family.