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The families who reside in and around Belle Chasse are well known for their sense of community, caring nature, as well as strong family bonds. When difficult times occur, the residents of Belle Chasse have a reputation for coming together and supporting one another, just as they did when Katrina rained destruction upon Southern Louisiana’s towns and cities. Unfortunately, life itself is full of storms, and while the forces of nature brings most storms, others are simply a part of life. None more traumatizing than when a person we care about develops an incurable illness. Even so, these storms happen to every family. Eventually, we all will have to cope with the death of loved ones because each of our lives will ultimately come to its end.
When someone we love is coming to the end of their life’s journey, many of us are ill prepared and oftentimes at a loss as to where to go for the assistance we require to help us through this challenging and often unfamiliar part of life. In most instances, hospice is the solution we need to help us with the challenges of looking after our loved ones 24 hours a day.
The majority of Belle Chasse natives likely believe that hospice is a place which terminally ill people go to die. However, hospice isn’t a destination, and it is not about dying. The truth is, hospice is a compassionate, holistic medical care which improves the quality of life for our patients and their family caregivers. It also allows people who have a life-limiting illness to lead the best quality of life attainable in the time they have been given.
Hospice also makes it possible for people nearing the end of their lives to continue to live in Belle Chasse and remain in their homes with their families near to them. As a matter of fact, nearly ninety percent of people that choose hospice as a form of treatment continue to remain in their homes up until their passing. It doesn’t matter if they reside in a house, a retirement community, or an apartment in Belle Chasse because hospice is almost always conducted in a patient’s home, regardless of where they call home. Hospice Associates’ specialized staff will travel to your Belle Chasse home and deliver the compassionate care you or your loved one needs, and we will provide it when you or your loved one requires it, any time, day or night. Hospice Associates is no more than a phone call away.
How is it that one word could create so much anxiety?
Why does one particular word cause some people to cringe?
One word that most people never hope to hear…
That word is HOSPICE, and it is not nearly as scary as some might make it out to be. Hospice isn’t something to fear, it is something to be embraced.
Hospice was initially a shelter for those with a life-limiting disease– a place where the dying would go to live out the remainder of their lives. These days hospice is no longer viewed as a place. Instead, it is now viewed as more of a service that delivers comfort and care to patients in their homes. Regardless of whether that home is inside a nursing home, assisted living facility, a member of the families’ residence, or their personal home. Hospice can be provided to patients irrespective of where they refer to as home.
One of the primary misconceptions about hospice I have encountered is that a lot people commonly believe hospice is exclusively for people that only have a short while left to live. The truth is hospice becomes available as soon as a doctor tells their patient that their disease is incurable and a cure is no longer possible.
My personal experience as a hospice nurse have given me the chance to witness the beauty of what hospice care provides to a family. Among the many things I learn from family members is that they wish they would have known hospice was an option well before they did. I think this is because hospice reduces much of the burden placed on the family and provides them peace of mind. Once they understand the relief hospice provides, families can begin to appreciate the short time they have left with the people they love.
I think this is because the sooner hospice is made available to a patient’s family, the sooner they can let go of the anxiety and fear of being the only ones giving care to their loved one. And once they see the freedom hospice provides, they have the opportunity to begin enjoying the short time they have remaining with their loved one.
We help walk families through each and every aspect of the disease process, so they can understand how illness will progress and what they should come to anticipate. Then when things develop, we are available to answer all of their questions and tend to any concerns they may have. Because of this knowledge and understanding, families shed the fear of the unknown and are provided the tools they need to help their loved ones throughout the process of dying.
This is not only for our patients but also for their family members. Comfort is a state of physical ease and freedom from pain or constraint. Hospice provides patients and family members spiritual, psychosocial, and physical comfort. Pain can be caused by many different things, but it is not limited to just physical suffering. I have come to realize that spiritual pain can be equally as challenging to relieve as bodily suffering is. Our chaplain and social workers labor together with our hospice nurses to treat each of the pains that might be present.
Hospice even aids to take off the barriers you may feel your disease has placed on you. For many, gaining the awareness and recognizing what to expect can be liberating. We never put limitations on what our patients can or can not do. Our aim is to help you be as comfortable and enjoy each moment that you have remaining to the fullest together with the ones you love.
Virtualy all hospice care is provided in-home, regardless of the place the patient considers their home. Hospice can be provided at your private home, retirement community, assisted living, group homes, or family residences.
Anyone, whether a family member, patient, friend, physician or medical professional, can make a recommendation to Hospice Associates. Referrals are entirely confidential. If you know of anyone that is in need of our services, phone us at 504-457-2200 to discuss whether or not we would be a good fit for the individual you have concerns about.
The most suitable opportunity to learn about hospice care is prior to you or someone you care for really needs hospice care. It’s never too late to learn about hospice or to discuss hospice with family members. By talking about hospice well in advance, you ensure that every family member affected possesses a good understanding of what is available to them.
No, people of any age with a life-limiting diagnosis are able to receive hospice treatment.
Yes. Your family physician becomes part of our team. We will communicate and work with your physician to better understand your personal requirements.
To receive hospice, you do not have to be inactive. Our objective is to help our patients live their lives to the fullest. We encourage patients in our care to do whatever they feel up to and continue to keep on doing the things that bring them happiness.What helps make hospice so special is that it places emphasis on patient care and not on a cure. Hospice enables people which have developed a life-limiting illness to decide the way they would like to spend the rest of their lives. Hospice care treats the whole person, and their family members are viewed as part of the unit of care. It emphasizes pain management and living life fully.
Hospice care, even in-home hospice is almost always 100% paid for by Medicare and Medicaid, so hospice care is something every peson that requires can afford. Individual insurance can occassionaly help subsidize the expense of things Medicaid and Medicare may not cover.
Hospice Associates offers hospice and palliative services to every qualified* individual that resides within a 50 mile radius of New Orleans, including Belle Chasse.
Hospice volunteers are generally available to provide different types of support to patients and their loved ones, often including:
Call Us: 504-457-2200
FAX: 504-457-2207
Physician managed hospice
and palliative care