Home health care helps people recover from an illness, injury, or surgery. It also helps people learn to manage chronic diseases. Palliative care provides pain and symptom control to people with a terminal illness who are not expected to live longer than six months. The main difference between home health care and hospice is its approach.
Home health care focuses on providing medical care to help patients recover from illness or injury, while palliative care focuses on providing comfort and support to patients nearing the end of life. While both hospice and home care offer specialized medical care and are designed to help patients avoid hospitalization, the team hospice model provides an additional level of support for terminally ill patients who have a life expectancy of six months or less. The goal of home health care, on the other hand, is to treat a chronic illness or injury. Palliative care helps the entire family, while home health care focuses on the patient. Hospice is designed to optimize your comfort and quality of life so you can make the most of the time you have left, whether it's days, weeks or months.
In addition to the treatment of pain and symptoms provided by doctors and nurses, hospice offers personal care through certified nursing assistants and emotional and spiritual support through counselors, social workers and chaplains. Volunteers are also available to provide company and rest. We know that there are some similarities between home health care and palliative care. Both care for patients in places they consider home and both provide comfort and care.
However, the main difference is that hospice takes place when curative treatments are stopped. Hospice begins when patients have six months or less to live. Palliative care and home health care have a few things in common, but they are different ways to help people with different needs and goals. Under Medicare, home health care is a wide range of health care services that can be provided at home in the event of an illness or injury and is generally less expensive, more convenient, and just as effective as the care you receive at a hospital or skilled nursing facility (SNF).
Who is eligible for palliative care? Palliative care focuses on the quality of life of people who have been diagnosed with a terminal illness and has a prognosis of six months or less. Palliative care includes specialized care provided by a team of professionals trained to manage the physical, emotional and spiritual well-being of people who are in the last stages of a chronic illness. Patients don't need to be confined to their homes to receive palliative care. We often receive the following questions from patients, family members and health professionals seeking more information about the differences between hospice care and home health care.
While hospice provides care in the home or anywhere a patient considers home, it is very different from home health care. Many people who qualify for home and hospice care don't understand the difference between the two types of care. Whether you're a patient, family member or caregiver, it's important to know how home care and hospice are alike and how they differ. Whether you're a patient, family member or caregiver, it's important to understand the similarities and differences between home care and hospice.
We'll discuss what home health care is, how it's different from palliative care, and how 3HC can help you with these two services. While there are some general similarities, there are many differences, especially when it comes to who can receive each service, what type of care is provided, and what is the purpose of care for each service. Understanding the differences between these two types of care can help you make an informed decision about what type of care is best for your situation. I encourage you to talk to your healthcare provider or a palliative care professional to learn more about your options and get the care you need. If a patient is eligible for Medicare benefits and you or your caregiver aren't sure what type of care is most appropriate, learn more about the differences between hospice services and home health care then.
