What is hospice care?
Hospice care focuses on comfort, quality of life, symptom management, and emotional support for a person with a terminal diagnosis.
Services may be provided at home, in a senior living community, at a nursing home, in a hospital, or at an inpatient hospice center.
A physician or medical care center can help you explore hospice, while national locator services can help you find providers.
According to the Hospice Foundation of America, hospice offers “medical care toward a different goal from ordinary healthcare: maintaining or improving quality of life for someone whose serious illness, incurable disease or condition is unlikely to be cured."1
Hospice, sometimes called end-of-life care, can help when a person has a terminal diagnosis or is nearing the end of life. It may support someone who wants to spend their final days at home, needs help maintaining quality of life, or has family caregivers who need assistance. The hospice philosophy accepts death as a natural part of life and brings compassionate day-to-day care, comfort, and spiritual support to the person and their family caregivers.
A closer look at hospice services
Trained professionals provide hospice care, helping the person receiving care and their family feel reassured that support is appropriate and delivered with expertise.
Hospice staff also provide grief support for the primary family caregiver and other family members. Choosing hospice care, and experiencing a death in the family, can bring many complex emotions. Hospice providers have experience approaching these difficult conversations with compassion.
What services does hospice provide?
Hospice services focus on comfort, symptom management, and support. They may include:
Administering appropriate medications, especially those that help keep the person comfortable
Helping with activities of daily living
Managing symptoms and pain related to a terminal illness
Providing short-term inpatient care
Providing short-term respite care
Supplying needed medical equipment
Offering grief counseling for the family
Where can someone receive hospice care?
Hospice care is available in a variety of settings, including a person’s home, an assisted living community, an inpatient hospice center, a nursing home, a hospital, or a family member’s home. A hospice team can generally provide services wherever the person lives, as long as it’s a suitable setting for hospice or palliative care.
When a person feels ready to begin hospice care, a palliative care team can start providing symptom management, symptom relief, emotional support, and other services.
Does insurance cover hospice care?
Insurance will often cover hospice care, and Medicare benefits and Medicaid may also support it. To qualify for hospice, a doctor overseeing the person’s care must recommend it, and the person must agree to receive it.
Hospice is recommended only when care professionals generally agree that the person is unlikely to live beyond six months. The person’s private insurance will determine which hospice services are covered.
Why is hospice important?
For a person nearing the end of life, hospice care can provide meaningful physical and emotional comfort. It can also offer relief and support to their family.
Studies have suggested that people who received hospice and palliative care may experience less depression, have a better quality of life at the end of life, and live, on average, more than two months longer than those who did not receive such care.2
Another benefit of hospice is that it cares for the family as well as the person receiving care. The hospice team may provide respite care, bereavement services, counseling, and therapy.
How can you find a hospice provider?
If you’re looking for hospice care for someone you love, their physician or medical care center is usually the first place to ask for help.
You can also use national hospice locators, such as the National Alliance for Care at Home, to help you find a hospice provider.
You can also ask local senior living communities or nursing homes whether they provide or coordinate hospice care. A local senior living expert may be able to help you understand which care options fit your family’s needs.
Moving forward with care and compassion
Finding hospice care for someone you love is deeply personal and emotional. If you’re a family caregiver, you may be weighing this decision with care, compassion, and many questions.
Start by considering your loved one’s needs and preferences, researching the available options, and seeking guidance from healthcare professionals. These steps can help you make an informed choice that provides comfort and support during the final stage of life.
Hospice care isn’t only about medical assistance. It’s also about creating an environment of empathy and understanding, cherishing meaningful moments, celebrating your loved one’s life, and supporting their dignity and peace.
The process may be difficult, but you don’t have to navigate it alone. Compassionate professionals and organizations can guide you through the available support, including hospice coverage, hospice costs, skilled nursing care, and other questions that may arise.
With clear information and compassionate support, you can make a thoughtful care decision for your loved one’s final journey.︎
Find support when you need it
You don’t have to navigate difficult moments alone. The right support group can offer understanding, connection, and a community of people who get what you’re going through.
Expert reviewed by
Nipun Chopra, PhD
Nipun Chopra reviews medical and aging content. With a PhD in Medical Neuroscience from Indiana University School of Medicine, Dr. Chopra's research was centered on the role of key proteins in the progression of Alzheimer's disease.
Written by
Marlena del Hierro
Marlena del Hierro is a strategic senior care industry leader with over a decade of experience. As Director of Operational Growth at CareScout, she drives growth and forges strategic partnerships, leveraging her MA in Gerontology from San Francisco State University. Pr...
