I've seen a few posts on here where people request hospice. Isn't an elderly person always dying? I know my mom when she had cancer was told she only had a few weeks to leave and was offered hospice care. We were told she could have been offered hospice care a few months prior when she was given 6 to 9 months to live. How does that work with elderly? If someone has severe dementia and is fairly healthy other than constant UTIs, diabetes and anemia, they might live for another year or maybe 10 years (honestly I hope not 10 not to be mean. Her quality of life is less than great). How does hospice ever get involved?
Evidently she thinks Mom has a good chance to be around for a long time, given her strong vitals, eating well and stubborn will to live?
Hospice would have provided some extra staff, and the antibiotics she was on would have continued. We ascertained than none oof her other meds ( for bp, anxity, depression or reflux) would be dc'ed. In the end, we opted for palliative care, meaning that she will not be taken to the hospital without our express consent. There is a standing order for morphine, should she begin having trouble breathing from the pleural effusion, which ois not going to be aggressively treated any longer.
I think that requesting a hospice evaluation is something that should be in the back of the mind of anyone helping to care for an elder. It never hurts to ask for an evaluation; i did that during mom's last hospitalization and was told "not yet" based on her condition.