Conditions

HOSPICE CARE FOR LUNG DISEASE PATIENTS

End-of-Life Care for Patients Suffering from Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) and Lung Disease Patients

Heart of Hope Hospice recognizes the courage it takes to help a loved one who is suffering from a life-limiting illness. We also understand the physical and emotional stress it places on you to care for this loved one.  We provide comprehensive hospice care and support services 24 hours a day, 7 days a week through our compassionate, experienced and well-trained interdisciplinary team of hospice nurses, home health aides, hospice social workers, therapists, bereavement counselors and volunteers.

We always put patients and families first and strive to make every interaction with you and your loved one more meaningful.

According to Medicare the patient with severe chronic lung disease will exhibit the following symptoms:

• Disabling dyspnea at rest
• Little if no response to bronchodilators
• Decreased functional capacity (bed to chair existence, fatigue and cough)
• Progression of disease as evidenced by a recent history of increasing physicians’ office, home or Emergency Department visits and or hospitalizations for pulmonary infection and/or respiratory failure
• Documentation within the past 3 months:
• Hypoxemia at rest on room air (p02 < 55 mmHg by ABG) or oxygen saturation < 88%
• Hypercapnia evidenced by pC02 > 50 mmHg

Supporting Documentation Includes:

• Unintentional progressive weight loss
• COR pulmonale and right heart failure

When is The Right Time to Ask About Hospice

Watching a loved one with lung disease decline, it can be difficult to determine when it might be time for hospice. In general, hospice patients are thought to have six months or less to live. Only a doctor can make a clinical determination of life expectancy. However, when a patient with lung disease becomes increasingly concerned about their ability to breathe and their declining condition, both the patient and family are likely to benefit from hospice services.

In general, hospice for lung disease may be beneficial when the patient:

• Has made repeated trips every few months to the emergency room for respiratory failure or lung infections
• Has been repeatedly hospitalized every few months and no longer wishes to be hospitalized
• No longer wishes to be intubated

The patient’s pulmonologist or personal physician may recommend hospice when the time is right. But patients and family members often must act as their own advocates to receive the care they need. You, your loved one or your physician may request an evaluation to see if hospice is an appropriate option for care.

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Benefits of Heart of Hope Hospice Care for Lung Disease Patients – The Heart of Hope Hospice team will evaluate the patient’s medical status and revise their care plan as the patient’s condition and symptoms change. The goal of hospice care for lung disease patients is to treat pain and other symptoms and relieve the physical and emotional stress to ensure the greatest level of comfort for our patients and their families.

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Pain Management – Our Hospice Care team provides palliative care which focuses on relieving pain and maintaining comfort.

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Comfort. Heart of Hope Hospice gives patients and families the support and resources to see them through this challenging chapter of life and help patients remain in comfortable and familiar surroundings.

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Reduced re-hospitalization. In the last months of life, some people who are seriously ill make frequent trips to the emergency room; others endure repeated hospitalizations. Hospice care reduces re-hospitalization: a study of terminally ill residents in nursing homes shows that residents enrolled in hospice are much less likely to be hospitalized in the final 30 days of life than those not enrolled in hospice (26% vs. 44%).

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Coordinated care at every level – A plan of care is developed with the advice and consent of the patient’s physician, if available or Heart of Hope Hospice physician. The Heart of Hope Hospice Case Manager ensures that information flows between physicians, the visiting nurse, social worker and, at the patient’s request, clergy. In addition, Heart of Hope Hospice coordinates and supplies all medications, medical supplies and medical equipment related to the diagnosis to ensure patients have everything they need.

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Emotional and spiritual assistance – Heart of Hope Hospice has the resources to help patients maintain their emotional and spiritual well-being.