Choosing Hospice Care Team

When a patient chooses hospice home care, they may have some new and special needs. Hospice Care Team, Inc. is sensitive and responsive to individual patient and family needs. The following services are coordinated to help the patient stay at home:

  • Hospice nurses are skilled in assessing and managing pain; they are trained caregivers who provide hands-on care.
  • Trained social workers are available as friendly and skilled listeners to help provide emotional support and to help with financial issues and planning.
  • The Hospice Care Team medical director works with the patient's physician and is available for pain and symptom management consultation.
  • Home health aides are available to help with personal care, such as bathing or dental and mouth care.
  • The Hospice Care Team, Inc. chaplain works alone or with the family's minister of choice, offering spiritual support, when requested.
  • Specially trained volunteers are an important element of the hospice team, available to spend time when they are needed most.
  • Professional bereavement specialists provide grief and loss counseling, memorial services and other support for family and loved ones.
  • Hospice Care Team coordinates any medications, equipment or supplies required to help the patient remain comfortable.
  • Continuous care is offered to patients for brief periods of time when the patient is in crisis and needs more constant care. 
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Hospice Care Team, Inc. nurses are experts at pain management and symptom control and are trained to help maximize comfort and quality of life. Hospice Care Team, Inc. nurses are available 24 hours a day 7 days a week.

Where Care is Provided

The services of hospice care programs are provided wherever patients are spending their final days, whether in their own home, in a family member's home, hospital or in a nursing home. The hospice team helps patients live out their final days with dignity and with as much physical comfort as possible. The members of the hospice team try to help our patients to be as free of pain as possible. They also try to help them be at peace with themselves and their illness while simultaneously providing support, education, and counseling to family members and friends. We offer the following services:.

  • Nursing services above and beyond the usual nursing home care
  • Training of family members in patient care, as appropriate.
  • Spiritual and emotional support for both the patient and the family.
  • Help with practical matters associated with terminal illness.
  • Speech, occupational and physical therapies (when these services are considered useful by the hospice team).
  • Coordination of services and care with the patient's HCT medical director or other attending physician.
  • Expert management of physical symptoms.
  • Bereavement and support groups for families 

In addition, for patients in hospitals, nursing homes, or other residential facilities, we offer:
  • Hospice nursing services in addition to the facility's usual care
  • Coordination of services and care with the patient's facility physician
  • Education and counseling to facility staff and, when appropriate, other residents who know the patient

Spiritual Support

Hospice Care Team, Inc. Spiritual Care staff support patients and their families in addressing the emotional and spiritual needs of people at the end of life. Spiritual Care deals with the spiritual needs and questions which often arise for patients and their families during or after an impending loss. "Why me?" and "Why must my loved one suffer?" are common questions asked during these trying times.

Hospice Care Team, Inc. Chaplains realize that spirituality is personal and unique to each individual. Some people desire the rituals and traditions of organized religion while others may need to evaluate the meaning of their life and their relationships.

Hospice Care Team, Inc is not affiliated with any particular religious group. We respect the cultural traditions of our patients and make our services available for all people regardless of their spiritual beliefs. When requested, our chaplains will work alone or with your minister of choice.

Grief Support

The death of a loved one changes our lives forever. That's why one of the most important parts of hospice care is our bereavement program. Hospice Care Team recognizes that some family members require additional support after the death of a loved one, providing professional counselors who specialize in grief and bereavement issues to meet this need.

For the Families of Hospice Care Team Patients
  • After the death, families of hospice patients are enrolled in a 13-month bereavement follow-up program.
  • An initial assessment determines the degree of support needed.
  • A follow up program is tailored to meet the specific bereavement needs of each family.
  • Routine follow-up includes phone calls, periodic mail outs of grief materials and an annual Service of Remembrance.
  • Grief support materials, including books, booklets and handouts.