Hospice care

We had Hospice for my aunt,they were there if we needed them but only when we didn't know what to do because we chose to do it all ourselves.You can give as much support to your family member as you choose or that you feel comfortable with doing.The four of us were none workers so we had the time that my aunt required to live her remaining days in comfort.

Hospice plays an important roll for many patients, but no more important than the family. The family is still there to support the patient. Hospice is there to help the family to care for their loved ones. They are there to provide support, not to take over. This way the patient will be able to stay at home rather than to be sent somewhere else if the family is unable to care for them on their own.

I don't think it is so much families giving lesser support as to it being too hard on families to care for their dying relative. I think hospice is a great idea.

Hospice care is becoming more and more the normal, accepted standard of end-of-life care in our society, but not for the reason you stated. Hospice care focuses very strongly on the family members and other significant people in the dying person's life; hospice is NOT a way for the family to provide less support to the dying person. In fact, in order to be eligible for a home hospice program, the terminal patient must have an identified live-in caregiver. Hospice is there to help the patient and the family, not to take over. The hospice staff trains the family to provide care and they offer psychological and emotional support to the patient and the caregivers.