A form of palliative care, hospice care focuses on attending to the mental, emotional, and spiritual needs of terminally ill patients during the last stages of their lives.

Hospice care services are provided by professionals with different specialties and backgrounds with the singular goal of providing patients as much comfort and convenience as they can as the patients approach their final days.

“At any length of stay, hospice care benefits patients, family members, and caregivers, including increased satisfaction and quality of life, improved pain control, reduced physical and emotional distress, and reduced prolonged grief and other emotional distress,” stated the National Association for Home Care & Hospice or NAHC on their website. 

Studies also show that it isn’t only patients who find comfort and relief in hospice care services, but their loved ones as well. 

Who is hospice care for?

Hospice care is available to patients who have six months or less to live or those who may opt not to undergo certain treatments and wish to experience instead an improvement in the quality of their lives for the rest of their days. 

According to the National Institute on Aging, more and more people are opting for hospice care. In 2023, Former First Lady Rosalynn Carter entered hospice care two days before passing away at her home in Georgia, where she died peacefully surrounded by family members. 

Some hospitals offer hospice care services. Hospice care agencies, on the other hand, may offer it in a facility or at the patient’s own home. 

Hospice agencies have also increased In response to the growing demand over the years. In California alone, the number of licensed hospice agencies increased fourfold from 2008 to 2018. 

Planning for end-of-life care need not be when our loved ones are already elderly or sickly. 

Early Communication and Thoughtful Consideration

It can begin with honest and early communication with them to know how they wish to spend their final days — be it under hospice care or aggressive care or in a hospital, facility, or at home.

In knowing the full extent of their wishes or how they envision themselves when they’re near death’s door, you can select which options best suit your loved ones’ requests. 

Should your loved ones go for hospice care services, choosing the right one requires a number of considerations, ranging from proximity, professionalism, and accreditation, to name a few. 

In Northern California, Solano Care Hospice has been servicing its patients from a variety of locations in the place where they call home — whether it’s at a facility or their residence. 

Composed of a team of passionate and compassionate service professionals, Solano Care places the patients’ care and comfort as its most pressing priority. 

Solano Care is founded by a US Air Force veteran who understands the condition of the elderly and has passed that understanding and concern to Solano Care’s pool of experienced professionals. 

Accredited by the ACHC (Accreditation Commission for Health Care), Solano Care Hospice continually upholds and upgrades its standard of care to the satisfaction of its patients and their loved ones.