What can you expect from hospice? Do people come in 24/7, and what is our responsibility?

So sorry about your father. Unsafe discharge! Contact his doctor and an ombudsman. What was his expected recovery for what type of health and physical conditions? Medicare contract covers 100% for up to 2 weeks for rehab and SNF that is very expensive. After 2 weeks, coverage is partial for the 100 day completion. So he should be placed into an assisted living. Ask about hospice level that must be six months or less before death.

Talk to the hospice nurse that coordinates his care and his doctor. The doctor can give you realistic ideas of how long he will live and his most likely symptoms as he declines. The hospice nurse can let you know what services he qualifies for and what tasks family will need to assume.

If going back home, You’ll need hoyer lift & wheelchair if he’s not going to stay in bed. In addition, other than hospice, a regular, steady caregiver for every day. & what if he …pardon me for being blunt…don’t die so soon? Are you going to change his diaper? Is the place he’s in Medicaid certified? Can you go see Medicaid planner or lawyer to help with application? If you tell facility there’s nobody home to take care of him properly…then they can keep him if he is “Medicaid eligible”
Look into it before jumping into the fire 🔥. Good luck & hugs 🤗

I think that hospice involvement depends on a lot of different issues. In my experience with my mom, she first had to meet certain requirements in order to be eligible for hospice care. Some examples: the patient requires help with feeding, is mostly non-ambulatory, has difficulty with communication. I think it is prob diff depending on where you live. Personally, my experience with hospice has been the most positive aspect of my moms care. She is now on hospice for the 2nd time. Her hospice nurses have been most helpful part of my moms healthcare team. Not only did they take amazing care of her-they also helped me more than I can possibly express. Her health improved drastically once she was accepted to hospice. So much so that she ended up being able to get off of hospice. Not only did her health improve, her behavior and emotional state also greatly improved. My mom was in a memory care facility where I could never get any questions answered, the communication was non-existent. And during Covid there were so many restrictions that I get like I had no idea what was going on with her care and was not able to see her as much as I was used to. She lost over 40 pounds and had more trips to the hospital than I can count. It was hard on both of us. After she was discharged from hospice the first time-she had 4 hospital trips, the last of which was for a broken hip within 3 weeks of discharge. Her hospice team would make sure to FaceTime me and keep me posted after every visit. They always made sure to reply to any questions or concerns I had. They were so emotionally supportive to me and my family members. They even kept in touch with me when she was discharged from hospice and continued to help us navigating the healthcare system. I’m so surprised to read so many negative comments about hospice. My brother and I still say to eachother at least once a week that we would have been lost without hospice. They were the only people on my moms healthcare team who seemed to genuinely care about her and her family. They cared more about her than any person in her care team at her memory care facility and they knew her for a fraction of the amount of time. I am thankful for our experience with hospice every single day.