What Is Hospice?
Hospice provides individualized care and support for people with a life expectancy of 6 months or less, and their loved ones. In hospice, care is delivered by a team of expertly trained individuals including physicians, nurse practitioners, nurses, hospice aides, social workers, volunteers, chaplains, and grief counselors. Care is focused on comfort rather than cure, with specific attention to managing pain and symptoms, providing emotional and spiritual support, and helping to meet end-of-life goals.
Who is eligible?
Hospice is for people with a prognosis of 6 months or less to live, and eligibility is determined by two physicians, your primary physician and a hospice physician.
Hospice is available for as long as the patient needs. People can continue to get care after the 6-month mark, and often do.
Hospice is not just for cancer patients and very old people. We care for people with a variety of medical challenges and diagnoses, including Alzheimer's and other dementias, end-stage heart disease, COPD, end-stage kidney disease, stroke, ALS, and others.
If your health improves or your illness goes into remission, you may no longer need hospice care. You have the right to stop hospice care at any time, and should it be necessary, you may return to hospice care at any time as well.
More detailed information for health professionals:
Where does hospice take place?
Depending on your needs, our hospice care takes place wherever you call home or Gosnell Memorial Hospice House.
Home Hospice
The majority of our patients receive care where they currently reside—whether that's their home, assisted living facility, long-term care facility, or the hospital. With home hospice care, we travel to the patient with our expertise and all the necessary medical support.
Gosnell Memorial Hospice House
Hospice of Southern Maine also operates Gosnell Memorial Hospice House, the only inpatient hospice facility in southern Maine. Set in a neighborhood in Scarborough, Gosnell offers 18 private suites with all the comforts of home for patients and their families. Respite care is also available at Gosnell for home hospice patients.
What services are provided?
Services include nurse visits, prescription drugs, equipment (like a hospital bed), supplies (like bandages), emotional and spiritual support, grief counseling for the family, and more.
Care is provided by an interdisciplinary team that coordinates closely to ensure all of the patient's and family's needs are met. The team is made up of the following experts.
Physicians
Our Medical Director regularly reviews your personalized care plan. If desired, your primary physician will remain involved in your care after admission to hospice.
Nurse Practitioners
Our NPs are highly-trained medical experts who diagnose, prescribe medications, and manage many conditions.
Registered Nurses
A nurse will visit, help manage your medications, and offer care to relieve any symptoms that arise. They will also provide education to your family and caregivers. In addition to regular visits, a nurse is available by phone 24/7.
Hospice Aides
Our hospice aides can help with personal hygiene and other needs. Duties may include help with bathing, dressing, feeding and oral care, changing linens, and light meal preparation.
Social Workers
Our licensed social workers provide emotional support and education on the end-of-life process, facilitate life review, goal setting and planning, and connect you with community resources including additional in-home support.
Chaplains
Our interfaith chaplains are specially trained in the end-of-life experience and are available in addition to your current pastor, priest, or spiritual advisor.
Grief Counselors
Our grief counselors provide support throughout hospice care and up to thirteen months after death. They offer individual grief counseling, grief support groups, and grief education.
Volunteers
Volunteers are specially trained and can help with light household chores, errands, transportation, and companionship.
Who pays?
Hospice services are 100% covered by Medicare and most private insurances. However, we provide care to anyone who needs us, regardless of insurance coverage or ability to pay. If you need assistance understanding your insurance coverage, our staff is available to answer questions.
For additional information about Medicare, please visit our resources page.
Pain & Symptom Control
The hospice care team focuses on the patient's well-being and comfort and is committed to developing a plan of care that relieves pain and other uncomfortable symptoms. Patients may experience unpleasant symptoms like pain, nausea (or vomiting), shortness of breath, fear, anxiety, or agitation. Our expert hospice teams work closely with the patient, their family, and their doctor to diminish or eliminate these symptoms through the use of medications, companionship, emotional and/or spiritual counseling, equipment, education, or other techniques. Our success is measured by your goals for your comfort.
What do I do if I have a symptom that is out of control in the middle of the night?
Our nurses and physicians are on call 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. We will be there for you.
Will I be given morphine to hasten my dying?
No. Hospice philosophy is to neither hasten nor postpone the natural dying process. Morphine is given to relieve symptoms such as pain or shortness of breath, but not with the intention of hastening death. Studies have recently shown that people on hospice live longer than those with similar diseases who do not receive hospice.
Hospice Care & Palliative Care: what's the difference?
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Palliative Care: Anyone with a serious illness, regardless of life expectancy, ideally beginning at time of diagnosis.
Hospice Care: Anyone with a life expectancy of 6 months or less.
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Palliative Care: Improve quality of life by anticipating, preventing, and treating suffering. Can be used to compliment curative care.
Hospice Care: Improve quality of life with comfort-based care that neither hastens nor postpones death.
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Palliative Care: Yes. Palliative care can be provided throughout the continuum of illness and can be used concurrently with curative treatments.
Hospice Care: It varies. Treatments and medicines aimed at relieving symptoms and improving quality of life are provided, including certain palliative treatments.
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Palliative Care: It depends on the provider but typically involves symptom management, emotional and spiritual support, advance care planning and care coordination to match treatments with the patient’s goals and wishes, and support for family.
Hospice Care: Hospice services include: expert pain and symptom management; medical and personal care; grief support; emotional and spiritual support; necessary medications, equipment, and supplies; 24-hour telephone support; guidance on funeral arrangements; education for families to help provide care; and volunteers for companionship and caregiver support.
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Palliative Care: Palliative treatments are typically provided by a team of doctors, nurses, and other specialists who work with the patient’s primary care physician. Social workers and chaplains can also be involved.
Hospice Care: End-of-life care is provided by an interdisciplinary team of physicians, nurses, social workers, hospice aides, chaplains, volunteers, grief counselors, and the patient’s primary care physician.
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Palliative Care: Home, assisted living facility, nursing facility, or hospital.
Hospice Care: Wherever you reside home, nursing home, assisted living facility, the hospital, or Gosnell Memorial Hospice House, Hospice of Southern Maine’s inpatient facility.
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Palliative Care: Some treatments and medications may be covered.
Hospice Care: Yes. Medicare and Medicaid pay for all services, treatments, and medications related to your hospice diagnosis.
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Palliative Care: It depends.
Hospice Care: Most insurance plans have a hospice benefit. Hospice of Southern Maine cares for all patients, regardless of insurance coverage or ability to pay.
Additional Considerations
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Once a prognosis has been determined, there are many choices to be made. As illness progresses, the goals of your treatment may change. Your physician can help you and your family decide if it is time to re-focus your goals of care differently. Here are some questions you might want to ask yourself:
• What is most important to me at this time in my life?
• Is it time to focus on comfort rather than cure?
• What brings me joy?
• How do I want to spend my time?
• How do I want to connect with family and friends?
• What support and care do I need?
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End of life and hospice care can be difficult subjects to talk about. However, it is important for patients and their loved ones to have open dialogue around the end-of-life journey. Talking about death can free you and your loved ones to celebrate every precious moment of life.
When discussing hospice and the end of life, it may help to focus on the quality care, compassion, and support hospice provides. As the end of life approaches, an open dialogue between patients, loved ones and care providers will maximize the longevity and comfort of the patient’s life. This approach also keeps patients involved in making important decisions regarding their physical, spiritual, and emotional care. Family members should understand the wishes of their loved ones.
Strong lines of communication can also lead to the early identification of a need for hospice care. In most cases, the earlier a patient is referred to hospice care, the better quality of life the patient will have. Early referrals allow the patient to benefit from pain and symptom management and live each day to the fullest, while the family benefits from team support and guidance that will allow them to find meaning and a sense of accomplishment as caregivers.
Our Ask the Experts educational series helps educate the public as well as clinicians on hospice topics from how to have the conversation around hospice, to the best ways to manage pain and symptoms at end of life.
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Emotional, spiritual, and logistical needs are real for both patients and their families as the end of life approaches. We pride ourselves on providing support for you and your family at this time. The importance of emotional and spiritual care differs from person to person, but the support and services of a social worker and chaplain are offered to all patients and their families. Our philosophy is to support and respect patients and their families through every stage of the dying process and in bereavement following the death.
We can provide in-house services or put you in contact with outside resources for support with the following issues:
• Emotional & Spiritual Support
• Funeral Arrangements