What’s the Key Difference Between Home Care and Hospice?

 November 11, 2020

 

November is National Home Care & Hospice Month and a lot of people may have heard about home care as well as hospice, but they might not know very much about either one.

Some people often confuse the two for one another. There are some key differences between home care and hospice that are important to note.

 

Hospice is for end-of-life care.

Many people assume when a person moves into hospice care, that means the end of their life is within days or even weeks. However, a person could be in hospice for a year or slightly longer, depending on their illness, health factors, and other issues.

Hospice is generally there to support people during end-of-life care, but it doesn’t necessarily mean they only have a few days or weeks left. That may generally be the case very often, but there are people in hospice for a lengthy state.

Hospice provides more direct care, including medical support, for those individuals who require medication to be administered, wound dressings to be changed, IV drips to be replaced, and more.

 

Home care is designed to help support people with daily life.

There are a couple of different types of home care, most notably a home care aide. This provider is an individual who helps elderly and disabled clients with basic tasks of everyday life.

This might include toileting, bathing, and preparing meals. It may also include light housekeeping and transportation services to get that individual to a doctor’s appointment or to visit with friends or to the grocery store.

A home health care provider can assist with many tasks, most notably those that are more medically oriented. Hospice professionals may tend to be home health care providers more often because of the need for direct medical assistance in this type of environment.

 

How will you know which one to choose?

If you or somebody you care about needs support at home, is it for end-of-life care or support through daily life? If it’s for “end-of-life care” then hospice is more likely to be needed.

If it’s for support to get through each day, to perform the basic tasks of everyday living, then it is most likely home care that you would need.

Many family members step up to provide this level of support and care to their loved ones, but may not be able to offer consistency and experience. Home care is a solution that provides that level of care.

 

If you or an aging loved-one are considering hiring Homecare in Bloomfield, PA, please contact the caring staff at In-Home Quality Care today. Serving the Greater Pittsburgh Area since 1990! Call 412-421-5202