{"id":5246,"date":"2026-08-05T15:05:47","date_gmt":"2026-08-05T15:05:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/s37407.p1377.sites.pressdns.com\/resources\/hospice-care-at-home\/"},"modified":"2026-08-05T15:11:56","modified_gmt":"2026-08-05T15:11:56","slug":"hospice-care-at-home","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.care.com\/c\/hospice-care-at-home\/","title":{"rendered":"Hospice care at home: 3 questions to consider before choosing it"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The majority of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nhpco.org\/hospice-facts-figures\/#:~:text=Routine%20Home%20Care%20accounted%20for,or%20other%20congregate%20living%20facility.\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">hospice care<\/a> takes place at home, according to the National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization (NHPCO); and certainly there are benefits to this approach. In addition to being in the comfort of your own familiar environment, with family and other loved ones, it&rsquo;s also generally less expensive. That said, it&rsquo;s not for everyone. Here, three questions to ask to make sure hospice care at home is right for you or your loved one.<\/p><div class=\"wp-block-custom-dynamic-list key-takeaways-block\"><h3>Key takeaways<\/h3><div class=\"key-takeaways-container\"><ul><li>Hospice care at home allows patients to remain in a familiar, comfortable environment with loved ones, but it requires a reliable support system. Most home hospice patients depend on a primary caregiver, with hospice staff providing regular visits, emergency support and respite services when needed.<\/li><li>A home should be safe and able to accommodate medical equipment like hospital beds or wheelchairs. Making modifications, such as installing grab bars and reducing fall hazards, can help create a more supportive environment for end-of-life care.<\/li><li>Home hospice works best when pain and symptoms can be managed between nursing visits using a care plan and prescribed medications. If symptoms become severe or difficult to control, an inpatient hospice facility may provide more appropriate around-the-clock care.<\/li><\/ul><\/div><\/div><h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">1. Do you have a caregiver?<\/h2><p>Even though your hospice provider will be offering services, most of the time, in a home-based situation, there is usually one family member or friend designated as primary caregiver. This role can also be filled by several people &mdash; for example, adult children who are able to provide continuous coverage through some creative scheduling and working closely together. (Regardless, hospice staff should be available 24\/7 for backup emergency care.)<\/p><p>Hospices do offer &mdash; and Medicare will usually cover &mdash; temporary inpatient care, as well as&nbsp;respite care&nbsp;for several days if the primary caregiver needs a break. In a crisis, you may also have access to continuous home care (CHC), which is nursing care for eight to 24 hours a day to manage severe pain and other acute symptoms. But if family and friends aren&rsquo;t able to provide basic care and support all day, every day, your needs may be better handled somewhere else, like a nursing home or <a href=\"https:\/\/www.care.com\/c\/what-is-hospice-care\/\">hospice facility<\/a>.<\/p><h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-2-is-your-home-set-up-for-hospice\">2. Is your home set up for hospice?<\/h2><p>While the hospice should provide everything you require &mdash; a hospital bed, for example, or a wheelchair&mdash;your house needs to have enough space to hold these things. You also need to be able to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.care.com\/c\/6-ways-to-make-home-safe-for-seniors\/\">walk around the home safely<\/a>, which may mean installing grab bars around the house and in places like the bathroom to prevent falls. Consider, too, whether the environment of the home (noise level, activity, other family members) will be truly comfortable.<\/p><p><strong>Read more:<\/strong><\/p><figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-wp-embed is-provider-care-com-resources wp-block-embed-care-com-resources\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\"><blockquote class=\"wp-embedded-content\" data-secret=\"MLMXkw9vjK\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.care.com\/c\/when-is-it-time-for-hospice\/\">When is it time for hospice?<\/a><\/blockquote><iframe loading=\"lazy\" class=\"wp-embedded-content\" sandbox=\"allow-scripts\" security=\"restricted\" style=\"position: absolute; visibility: hidden;\" title=\"&ldquo;When is it time for hospice?&rdquo; &mdash; Care.com Resources\" src=\"https:\/\/www.care.com\/c\/when-is-it-time-for-hospice\/embed\/#?secret=OhmDceumuU#?secret=MLMXkw9vjK\" data-secret=\"MLMXkw9vjK\" width=\"600\" height=\"338\" frameborder=\"0\" marginwidth=\"0\" marginheight=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\"><\/iframe><\/div><\/figure><h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-3-how-manageable-are-your-symptoms\">3. How manageable are your symptoms?<\/h2><p>Usually, a nurse only visits a patient two or three times a week, so it&rsquo;s important for the patient and caregiver(s) to be able to&nbsp;manage pain&nbsp;and other symptoms (like difficulty breathing) at home. Your <a href=\"https:\/\/www.care.com\/c\/how-to-choose-a-hospice-provider\/\">hospice team<\/a> will develop a care plan to meet your needs for pain management and symptom control that your caregivers will follow. <\/p><p>Many hospices provide an emergency symptom kit, or an e-kit, that contains drugs such as morphine to relieve severe pain and valium to reduce anxiety. But if your symptoms are difficult to control, you may be better off in an inpatient facility.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Wondering if hospice care at home is the right choice or if a hospital is a better fit? Here are three factors to consider. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":975,"featured_media":31414,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"enable_toc":false,"care_reviewed_by":0,"care_post_updated_flag":false,"care_updated_date":"2026-08-05T15:05:47.642Z","last_update":"2026-08-05","view_count":1585,"footnotes":"","_members_access_role":[],"_members_access_error":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[1072,1102],"member-type":[3],"vertical":[8,33,32],"platform":[2],"class_list":["post-5246","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-home-care","tag-hospice-and-palliative-care","member-type-seeker","vertical-seniors","vertical-senior-care-advice-tips","vertical-senior-care-options","platform-resources"],"acf":[],"created":"2019-02-14","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.care.com\/c\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5246","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.care.com\/c\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.care.com\/c\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.care.com\/c\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/975"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.care.com\/c\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5246"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/www.care.com\/c\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5246\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":229775,"href":"https:\/\/www.care.com\/c\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5246\/revisions\/229775"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.care.com\/c\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/31414"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.care.com\/c\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5246"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.care.com\/c\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5246"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.care.com\/c\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5246"},{"taxonomy":"member-type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.care.com\/c\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/member-type?post=5246"},{"taxonomy":"vertical","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.care.com\/c\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/vertical?post=5246"},{"taxonomy":"platform","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.care.com\/c\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/platform?post=5246"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}