Hospice Care at Home

You and those you love are facing a difficult time.
But you don’t have to face it alone.

Remember that your 3HC family is ready to embrace and support you with hospice care at home. Many people have questions about hospice care. That’s okay. We believe in taking time to answer your questions because our hospice staff treats you and those you love like family.

What is Hospice Care?

Hospice is not a specific place. It is not a building or a location.

Hospice care is a coordinated program of services provided as a team approach. Hospice care is geared toward helping those at the end of life’s journey to live their final days and months fully, with as much joy, comfort, and dignity as possible.

Hospice is a philosophy that affirms life by recognizing dying as a normal process and does not seek to either hasten or postpone death.

We are a not for profit hospice provider serving patients from the Triangle to the coast. We help patients of all ages, who need healthcare in the place they call home, at a time when isolation and loneliness are rampant. Let us care for you. Start Here: find the right care.

We Care for Patients and Their Loved Ones as If They Are Family

We believe, at the heart of the matter, that the quality of life is just as important as the amount of time left in it. So, our 3HC family seeks to help our patients by providing pain and symptom management so they can make the most out of every day, and spend their time surrounded by those they love. We realize that these final experiences are key to making beautiful, precious memories. That’s why we strive to treat everyone—from our patients to their loved ones —like family.

Because hospice is not a place, patients can receive help in any place they call home:

a residence
a skilled nursing facility, nursing home, or assisted living facility
one of our inpatient hospice care centers
It’s also possible, if needed, hospice services can be provided in a hospital

Who Qualifies for Hospice Care?

Terminally ill individuals and their families, regardless of age, gender, nationality, race, creed, sexual orientation, disability, or ability to pay may be eligible for hospice. “Terminally ill” is defined by a doctor’s prognosis of six months or less to live. For a patient to be eligible for hospice, he or she must have chosen to forego aggressive, curative treatment. All patients must understand and accept the hospice philosophy of care.

What About Palliative Care?

Hospice defines palliative care as a comfort care or an intensive program of care with the relief of pain and suffering as the treatment goal. When a cure is no longer possible, a peaceful and comfortable life and death is the treatment objective. Hospice clinicians are experts in palliative care. Hospice believes that death is a normal part of the life cycle. The goal in hospice care is to manage pain, ease suffering (physical, emotional, social, and spiritual) and support the patient and family in living fully in the final months.

Pain Management

Pain management is one of the most important elements of palliative care. Not all hospice patients will have pain, but the control of pain is essential for those who do. Whether the pain is acute or chronic in nature, our goal is to eliminate pain or reduce the pain to a tolerable level, and then prevent the pain from returning.

If the patient is remaining in their home, it is essential that the hospice team prepares caregivers and family members on how to manage the symptoms that emerge from either their sickness, medication, or lack of mobility.

The hospice care philosophy focuses on the patient having the fullest possible comfort and dignity, and symptom control.

Symptoms that Call for Pain Management
If the patient is remaining in their home, it is essential that the hospice team prepares caregivers and family members on how to manage the symptoms that emerge from either their sickness, medication, or lack of mobility.

The most common symptoms to look out for are:
- Skin breakdown
- Bed sores
- Nausea
- Vomiting
- Constipation
- Shortness of breath

Poor or no appetite is normal when a person has a serious illness.

Symptoms of Lack of Appetite
- Difficulty swallowing
- Nausea
- Vomiting
- Altered sense of taste or smell
- Feeling full
- Tumor growth
- Depression
- Pain
- Impending death

Additional Support for Patients & Families

Bereavement & Grief Care

While all available family members and caregivers should value their time with the patient, no one should be expected to provide constant attention. Bereavement starts before death, the feelings are strong, and all people involved in the patient’s hospice care, or even merely present, need to be given the time to process the experience and treasure the one who is passing and then is gone.

When someone you love is no longer with you, or you’re coping with the imminent death of a family member or friend, you are embarking on your own journey of grief.

Grief can be overwhelming. You may be flooded with feelings of sadness, guilt, or even anger. As we join your family on this journey, we realize that grief is a highly personal experience, as strong and unique as the relationship.

Our 3HC hospice nurses and counselors will be there for you. Our team provides individualized care that has helped families who are going through similar situations. Our staff is trained to promote emotional interdependence within family and friends.

Bereavement services are available for 13 months after the death of a loved one. 3HC has a Bereavement Center in Goldsboro, NC. We have grief counselors available and a library of grief support books. Bereavement services also include visits, telephone calls, mailings, support groups, memorial services, and our annual Wings Camp for Grieving Children.
Spiritual Needs & Requests
Hospice care is a holistic approach. That means we are also aware of your spiritual, as well as physical needs.

We know that every family is different. Spirituality encompasses people who are religious and have connection to a faith tradition, as well as those who do not perceive themselves to be religious at all. At 3HC, we are interested in the experience of the patient’s religious life, if that is important to them.

We understand that this is a time when many spiritual questions may arise. That’s why we have Hospice Chaplains on staff to meet the spiritual needs of our hospice patients and family, whatever their faith, belief or stance.

We offer traditional practices such as:
- Reading of scripture
- Rites of forgiveness and reconciliation
- Meditation
- Communion or the Eucharist in the Christian tradition
In addition, we provide psychosocial support through our social workers.
Respite & Help From Volunteers
Our volunteers make a huge difference in the lives of those we serve. We’re grateful for the service of those who have helped hospice patients from the Triangle to the coast.

Our volunteers help by providing:
- Companionship
- Reading
- Listening
- Running errands
- Light housekeeping
- Shopping
- Yard work
- Spiritual care
- Other tasks as needed

Let Our Family Provide Support for Your Family and Those You Love

Like we said before, this is a difficult process. Your mind is flooded with a thousand feelings, and this final stage in life’s journey can be an intensely reflective time.

That’s why our philosophy is to care for you as if you were members of our own family.

Because we believe that family sticks together, supports each other, and listens to each other. We want to be that comforting voice, that soothing presence, and that clinical expertise that minimizes pain and controls symptoms.

Do you need hospice care? Is someone you love facing a terminal illness? Many don’t realize that anyone can make a referral to 3HC hospice. You don’t have to be a physician—although physicians can certainly make referrals as well.

To get started, start here: find the right care or call our 24-hour referral line at: 1-800-692-4442

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Hospice Care at Home: Everything You Need To Know

Hospice

Illustration of caring hands holding a home with a medical cross on it

What You’ll Learn

When faced with a terminal illness, wouldn’t it be better to be surrounded by the ones you love in the home that is so dear to you? That’s a part of our mission at 3HC Hospice, providing comfort and compassion in the environment you call home. We’ve compiled an extensive resource of articles for you, and we’ve debunked some of the most common misconceptions about hospice care.

Resources

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