Arizona hospice providers looking to change image
Jul 6, 2012, 6:23 AM | Updated: 6:23 am
PHOENIX — Hospice providers are bracing for the aging baby boomer generation and trying to change the perception of what they do.
One of those myths is that a hospice consists of friendly visitors who sit in a darkened room and hold a dying person’s hand.
Lee Ann Black with Hospice of the Valley said that is not the way it is.
“Some people think hospice is about giving up hope. Hospice is about living life to the fullest,” she said.
According to the National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization, an estimated 1.58 million patients received hospice care from more than 5,000 programs nationwide in 2010, more than double the number of patients served a decade earlier.
More than 40 percent of all deaths in the United States that year were under the care of hospice, which provides medical care, pain management and emotional and spiritual support to patients with terminal illnesses.
Both figures have grown steadily and are expected to rise as baby boomers — the 78 million Americans born between 1946 and 1964 — get older.
Hospice of the Valley has a program called Arizona Palliative Home Care for patients who aren’t ready for hospice, but could be within a year.
“Their trying to figure out how to navigate the health care system,” said Black.
Hospice of the Valley provides specialized programs for people with heart and lung disease and dementia, along with more non-conventional services.
“If we have patients who want to go to a golf course or casino we will certainly help anyway that we can,” said Black.
