Navigating the final stages of life can be an emotional and overwhelming journey. Hospice care offers compassionate support during this time, focusing on comfort, dignity, and quality of life rather than curative treatment. But hospice care isn’t one-size-fits-all. There are several types of hospice support designed to meet different needs and circumstances.
Hospice care is a type of care that provides comfort, support, and dignity to those nearing the end of their lives. When your doctor determines that you or a loved one has six months or less to live and has opted to forego curative therapy, this is the best option. Oasis hospice Care provide the best support to your loved ones.
What is Hospice Care?
A thorough hospice program provides care for the entire person as well as their family. With the assistance of a team of specialists, including a board-certified physician, nurse practitioner, nurse, social worker, spiritual support counselor, licensed home health aide, and volunteer, hospice focuses on the physical, emotional, and spiritual quality of life.
The care is delivered in the comfort of your own home, nursing home, assisted living facility, or inpatient hospice facility. Hospice, as defined by Medicare, provides four levels of care to address the diverse requirements of patients and their families. Routine home care, continuous home care, general inpatient care, and respite care are the four levels of hospice care.
What Are the Four Hospice Care Levels
Oasis is a Medicare-certified hospice provider, and all Medicare-certified hospice providers are required to offer four levels of hospice care. Anyone qualified for Medicare can access the four levels of hospice care.
Homecare on a regular basis
The most basic level of hospice care is delivered in your home, assisted living facility, or nursing home. This level of care provides comfort at the end of life through a collaborative effort between hospice personnel and your physician. Medical social services, spiritual support, volunteer visits, grief counseling, medication, equipment, and all supplies linked to your loved one’s hospice diagnosis are all included in this hospice level of care.
Home care that is ongoing
If your loved one is enduring a medical crisis and severe symptoms such as unrelieved pain or shortness of breath, the level of hospice care known as continuous home care is when a nurse stays in your house for an extended period of time. During a medical crisis, however, your hospice physician or nurse may determine that general inpatient care is a preferable alternative to meet your loved one’s needs.
Inpatient General Care
Severe pain or other symptoms may necessitate advanced care, which is more efficiently delivered during a brief stay in an inpatient hospice facility. If your loved one’s needs become more severe, the hospice team may propose transferring your loved one to the inpatient level of care at The Oasis Hospice. The goal of inpatient hospice care is to manage severe pain and symptoms.
In-Home Care
The respite level of hospice care is delivered on an as-needed basis and provides an unpaid family caregiver with a planned, short-term break from the responsibilities of aiding a loved one with advanced disease. It can only be delivered at a Medicare-certified inpatient hospice facility, hospital, or skilled nursing facility that can provide 24-hour nursing care if your loved one’s plan of care requires it. Please discuss the respite level of care with your Oasis hospice nurse.
How to Choose the Right Level of Hospice Care
Your physician/specialist, or a hospice physician or nurse visiting you or your loved one in the home, hospital, or assisted living/nursing home, will determine the appropriate degree of hospice care. The healthcare professional will do an examination to establish the appropriate degree of hospice care for you.
Each level of care addresses certain needs, and each hospice patient is distinct. Every Medicare-certified hospice provider is required to provide the following four levels of care:
Home Hospice Care
Oasis assists patients and families who prefer to receive hospice care at home, regardless of where they live. A home hospice care staff visits on a regular basis to provide comfort and dignity. Free diagnostic equipment, materials, and medication are provided. At home, a nurse checks a man’s blood pressure as he sits up in bed.
Hospice Care Ongoing
Hospice providers must provide continuous hospice care when medically necessary. At VITAS, we call it Intensive Comfort Care®: round-the-clock hospice care to manage patients’ acute symptoms and keep them out of the hospital until routine services can resume. A male patient in his bed at home converses with a VITAS nurse.
Hospice Inpatient Care
If symptoms cannot be managed at home, Oasis inpatient hospice care offers 24-hour support until the patient is able to return home. Our comfortable inpatient hospice care facilities combine the support of an acute-care hospital with the comforts of home. A doctor converses with a woman who is laying in bed.
Interim Care
Patients get respite care in a Medicare-certified inpatient hospice environment for a brief period of time so that their primary caregivers can rest.
In-Home Hospice and Palliative Care in Chicago, IL
At Oasis Hospice Care, we’re honored to be a trusted source of comfort, compassion, and expert care for families across Chicago, Illinois. Whether you need in-home hospice care focused on end-of-life support or palliative care to manage serious illness, our dedicated team in Chicago Heights, IL is here to walk with you every step of the way.
We bring peace, dignity, and personalized attention right to your doorstep, ensuring your loved one receives the care they deserve in the place they feel most at home. Call us today at 708-564-4838 to learn how we can support you and your family.
