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The Louisianians that live in and near Gray are well known for their sense of community, caring nature, as well as strong family bonds. When difficult times occur, the citizens of Gray have a history of pulling together and helping one another, just as they did when Hurricane Katrina rained devastation upon Southern Louisiana’s towns and cities. Unfortunately, life itself has many storms, and while the weather brings most storms, others are simply part of living. None more distressing than when somebody we care about develops a terminal illness. Still, these storms happen to every family. Eventually, we all will need to suffer through the passing of the people we love because all of our lives will ultimately come to an end.
When someone we love is coming to the end of their earthly life, most of us are ill prepared and frequently at a loss as to where to go for the assistance we need to help us through this challenging and often unfamiliar part of life. In most circumstances, hospice care is the solution we seek to help us with the challenges of taking care of our loved ones full-time.
The majority of Gray locals most likely believe that hospice is a place that people go to die. But, hospice isn’t a place, and it isn’t about dying. The truth is, hospice is a compassionate, holistic medical care that improves the quality of life for the people in our care and their family caregivers. It also permits individuals diagnosed with a terminal condition to experience the best quality of life possible in the time they have remaining.
Hospice also allows people approaching the end of their lives to continue to live in Gray and remain in their homes with their family members close to them. In fact, around ninety percent of the people who embrace hospice as a treatment continue to remain in their residences until their passing. It does not matter if they live in a house, a retirement community, or an apartment in Gray because hospice is almost always conducted in a patient’s home, irrespective of the place they call home. Hospice Associates’ caring staff will come to your Gray home and provide the compassionate care you or your loved one requires, and we will do it whenever you or your loved one needs it, any time, 24 hours a day. Hospice Associates is no more than a phone call away.
How is it that a single word can bring so much dread?
How could one particular word often cause people to cringe?
One word that most people never hope to hear…
That word is HOSPICE, and it is not nearly as scary as one might think it is. Hospice isn’t something to be feared, it is something to be embraced.
Hospice was originally a home for those with a fatal illness– a place where the dying would go to live out the remainder of their lives. Nowadays, hospice is no longer viewed as a place. Instead, it is now viewed as a medical service that administers comfort and care to terminally ill patients in their own homes. Regardless of whether that home is in a nursing home, assisted living facility, family members’ home, or their own personal home. Hospice can be offered to patients regardless of the location they consider home.
One of the leading myths concerning hospice I’ve come across is that a lot people often presume it is reserved only for people that only have a short while left to live. The reality is hospice becomes available as soon as a doctor informs their patient that their condition is terminal and a cure is no longer possible.
My personal experience as a hospice nurse have offered me the opportunity to partake in the beauty of what hospice care offers to a family. Among the things I frequently hear from family members is that many wish they would have known hospice was available well before they did. I think this is because hospice reduces the burden placed on families and gives them peace of mind. Once they understand the relief hospice provides, families can begin to enjoy the short time they have left with the ones they love.
I believe this is because the sooner hospice is offered to a patient, the sooner they are able to let go of the stress and fear of being the only ones providing care to their loved one. And once they see the relief it offers, they have the ability to start enjoying the short time they have left with their loved one.
We help walk families through every aspect of the disease process, so they can understand how disease will progress and what they can come to expect. Then, as things arise, our team is available to answer all of their questions and address any worries they might have. Because of this knowledge and understanding, families shed the fear of the unknown and are given the tools they require to help their loved ones through 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 offers hospice patients and their families with spiritual, psychosocial, and physical comfort. Pain can be brought on by many different things, however, it isn’t restricted to merely bodily pain.
Hospice also helps to remove the restrictions you may think your illness has put upon you. Our objective is for you to be comfortable and live each moment you have left to the fullest with your loved ones.
The majority of hospice care is provided in-home, regardless of the place the patient calls their home. Hospice Care may be offered at your personal home, retirement community, assisted living, group homes, or family residences.
Anyone, whether a member of the family, patient, friend, doctor or medical professional, can make a recommendation to Hospice Associates. Recommendations are fully confidential. If you know of an individual that is in need of our services, contact us at 504-457-2200 to discuss whether we might be a suitable fit for the person you have concerns about.
The best occasion to learn about hospice care is well before you or someone you love really needs hospice care. It’s never too late to learn more about hospice or to discuss hospice with your family. By talking about hospice well in advance, you ensure that everyone affected possesses a good understanding of what is available to them.
No, people of all ages with a terminal illness can receive hospice care.
Yes. Your family doctor becomes part of our team. Our team will keep in touch and consult with your physician to best understand your personal needs.
To qualify for hospice, you don’t need to be inactive. Our objective is to help our patients live their lives to the fullest. We encourage people in our care to do whatever they feel capable of doing and continue to do the activities that bring them happiness.What helps make hospice special is that it focuses on patient care and not on a cure. Hospice care allows people which have developed a life-limiting illness to determine precisely how they would like to spend the remainder of their life. Hospice ministers to the whole person, and their family members are considered as part of the unit of care. It places emphasis on pain control and enjoying life fully.
Hospice services, even in-home hospice care is almost always 100% covered by Medicare and Medicaid, so hospice care is something every peson that requires can afford. Individual insurance can occassionaly help fund the expense of items Medicaid and Medicare may not cover.
Hospice Associates offers hospice and palliative services to all qualified* individual that resides within a 50-mile radius of New Orleans, which includes Gray.
Hospice volunteers are generally available to provide different types of support to patients and their loved ones, which may include:
Call Us: 504-457-2200
FAX: 504-457-2207
Physician managed hospice
and palliative care