When is it Time?

Now is the best time to begin learning more about hospice care and to ask questions. This can help greatly reduce stress when the time for hospice becomes apparent.

The first thing to remember when considering your end-of-life care plans is that choosing hospice does not mean giving up. It is a choice to shift the focus of care from curative treatment to comfort care.

Three indicators that your loved one is ready for hospice:
{from the National Hospice & Palliative Care Organization}

1.  The disease has progressed to the point that there’s no cure, and you’ve (and your loved one) has decided to manage the pain and be comfortable and not actively seek to treat the disease. 

2.  You and your loved one chooses to forego any further testing of hospitalizations–by this choice, you allow the dying process to happen naturally. Body functions/organs may begin to diminish.

3.  You’re ready to begin to let go, say good bye and follow the oath of hospice, which is to “neither hinder, not hasten death.”

If you think you or a loved one is ready for hospice, please visit with your physician today. Together, Circle of Life will work with your physician to make the transition to hospice care.