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What You Should Know about the Medicare Hospice Program

Hospice can be a comprehensive well being care program for the seriously ill, who may or may possibly not be close to death. In fact, it isn’t at all rare that a beneficiary can get well sufficient to leave hospice.

Within the case in the Medicare hospice program, it offers comfort and help to people today who are severely ill in order to help them live their remaining time towards the fullest extent possible. Hospice focuses on physical, emotional, social and spiritual needs. In addition, it delivers assistance towards the household members who are caring for the severely-ill person.

The benefit of hospice is that it might be provided in the home. The beneficiary is assigned a nurse who comes by to regularly check things including vital signs and to help with chronic or even acute professional medical difficulties. They, or an additional nurse, are on call 24-hours a day for emergencies. That means while hospice beneficiaries still preserve routine appointments with doctors, hospice nurses can handle colds, the flu along with other ailments that would ordinarily send them to a physician. This helps decrease Medicare emergency room costs and delivers the beneficiary and family members peace of thoughts.

In addition, Medicare hospice assigns a licensed, professional social worker to assist family members proper care givers with advice, counseling and resources. And hospice may even supply a hospital-style bed, oxygen or an IV to prevent dehydration

Medicare Hospice Services Covered

Here is a general overview of the services that Medicare hospice services cover:

*Doctor services *Nursing care *Medical equipment (such as wheelchairs or walkers) *Medical supplies (such as bandages and catheters) *Drugs for symptom control or pain relief (may require small co-payment) *Hospice aide and homemaker services *Physical and occupational therapy *Speech-language pathology services *Social worker services *Dietary counseling *Grief and loss counseling for you and your family *Short-term inpatient care (for pain and symptom management) *Short-term respite care (may require small co-payment) *Any other Medicare-covered services needed to manage your pain and other symptoms, as recommended by your hospice team

Keep in mind that as of January 1, 2011, the health care reforms will require that a nurse practitioner or doctor have a face-to-face meeting with the patient at the end of the six month period to re-certify his/her eligibility.

Introduced by: GreatLife Insurance Group Minnesota Insurance Quotes – Annuities, Medicare Healthcare Plans, Health Insurance, Life Insurance, and Business Insurance Products. www.greatlifeinsurancegroup.com

Caring for a family member inflicted with symptoms of Alzheimer’s disease is both debilitating and a challenging task. Each day brings new demands as the caregiver copes with the rapid progression of the new patterns of behavior of the Alzheimer’s patient.

In preparing and setting up an effective home care for an Alzheimer’s patient, a compassionate caregiver must make the following changes in a new home environment:

1. As the disease progresses, adjusting your communication style to the patient’s changing needs.

2. Scheduling visitors to avoid surprises and have something to look forward to. Even if the elder with dementia does not recognize those who visit, the contact is nonetheless valuable for them.

3. Establishing routines in activities of daily living. Be accepting of the increasingly limited capabilities of the person with dementia and implement care strategies accordingly. Do your best to be patient, kind, flexible, supportive, and calm. This disease is no one’s fault, although it is very aggravating and disappointing.

By the same token, don’t take problem behaviors (like aggressiveness or wandering) personally. Accept the symptoms of the disease and proceed from there. Remember that the person is not behaving this way on purpose.

Plan activities that the patient is interested in, such as art, cooking, walking, swimming, or gardening. Focus on enjoyment, not achievement. If the person is lucid enough, involve them in making music, doing puzzles or crosswords, or playing memory games, card or board games. Or, the patient may passively enjoy hearing music, contact with pets, or sitting outside in the garden.

Go for walks in the neighborhood, go for a drive, or spend time at a park. Walking is often therapeutic, although the pace may not be as vigorous as you might like. Develop a style of paying more attention to the beauty and novelty of your surroundings as you walk.

4. Maintaining social contacts and fun. During the early stage of the disease, caregivers can promote the patient’s sense of well being by providing emotional support and by helping to maintain familiar activities and social contacts.

Even when Alzheimer’s patients no longer have the cognitive ability to understand your humor, they can still appreciate it. They may still smile or laugh and sharing that laughter can be a relief to both you and your charge. Use the same modes of humor as you always have: teasing, nonsense, clowning. Be even more silly than usual!

To counteract isolation and loneliness, encourage family and friends to stay involved. Take the patient to family gatherings if it’s comfortable to do so. Schedule visitors, to avoid surprises and have something to look forward to. Even if the elder with dementia does not recognize those who visit, the contact is nonetheless valuable for them.

Sometimes the caregiver will want to join the patient in family gatherings or stay in the home when visitors are present. Caregivers can start feeling isolated and lonely themselves as more and more of their time is built around the elder’s needs. If the patient feels safe with the visitors, the caregiver can use the visiting time as an opportunity for relief and respite. Adult day care has similar benefits: social stimulation for the patient and free time for the caregiver.

5. Promote comfort and safety. As problems with memory and judgment increase, the patient becomes more vulnerable to accidents and injuries. There will be times when you’ll want to remind the person that they have Alzheimer’s. At other times it might be better to refer to a “memory problem.” Even if you repeatedly tell the elder that they have Alzheimer’s disease, they may not remember that you told them. Be prepared to patiently repeat the information at times when you’re trying to help the person understand why they can’t do something or why you are taking over a task the person used to do.

Carefully screened and compassionate caregivers regard their responsibility as a way of being involved with their loved one. Their caring is based on unconditional love, and they do not consider it a burden. Dementia patients are able to read body language and to respond to the positive attitudes of the caregiver. Where patient and caregiver have had problems in their past relationship, it can be especially challenging to empathize and be kind, so a support system for the caregiver is most important.

6. Communicate with an Alzheimer’s patient. A good home care service trains caregivers to acknowledge requests and respond to these patients. Don’t argue or try to change the person’s mind, even if you believe the request is irrational. Be affectionate with the patient, if this feels natural. Try not to set up a cycle of paying attention only when the person displays problem behaviors. Break this negative cycle by being supportive of positive behavior.

Jack Haddad, MD, MBA
Portfolio Manager
MD Capital Management
Affiliated Hospitals
Sutter-Roseville Medical Center, Roseville, CA
San Francisco General Hospital, San Francisco, CA
San Jose Orthopedic Medical Group, San Jose, CA
Highland Hospital, Oakland, CA

Dr. Jack Haddad, MD, MBA is the founder and owner of King of Home Care, an independently owned non-medical In-home care agency. In addition to his compassion and dedication to the home care industry, Dr. Haddad’s expertise and knowledge with In-Home Care is evident by the clinical research trials that he has conducted over the years.

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