For U.S. Residents Only

Hospice

Hospice is a special way to care medically, psychologically, and spiritually for a person in the final phase of terminal illness. With hospice, the focus is on providing care and comfort for the patient and their family, not on trying to cure the illness. Hospice care can be provided either in your home or at a hospice facility. If you and your loved one decide that hospice is an option you wish to pursue, your doctor will need to certify that treatments to cure lung cancer are no longer being administered and that your loved one is in the final weeks or months of life.

If you choose hospice, a team of doctors, nurses, home health aides, social workers, counselors, and trained volunteers will help your loved one and your family to prepare for your loved one's end of life. Services include pain control and symptom management. Hospice is not an option if you and your loved one are not ready to give up hope of a cure through medical treatments.

An important benefit of hospice is that it strives to ensure peace, comfort, and dignity. This may reaffirm your loved one's right to participate fully in an important phase of life—its final stage.

To learn more about hospice, you can call the National Hospice Organization at 1-800-658-8898 or talk to your doctor, nurse, or social worker.

For information on other caregiving options, click the links below.

Home Care
Nursing Home
Hospice

You may find other helpful information on the Into the Future page of this section.

Sources of Information

There are many organizations that provide information and support for caregivers and families of people with cancer. You may contact them by phone, mail, or on the Internet.
  • The National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization
    1700 Diagonal Road, Suite 625
    Alexandria, VA 22314
    1-703-837-1500
    1-800-658-8898 (Helpline)
    http://www.nhpco.org
    Provides support (in English and Spanish) regarding the rights and issues of terminally ill patients and their family members and information about discussion groups, publications, how to find a hospice, and the financial aspects of hospice.

  • Hospice Association of America (HAA)
    228 Seventh Street, SE
    Washington, DC 20003
    1-202-546-4759
    http://www.nahc.org/HAA/home.html
    Provides facts and statistics about hospice programs and can supply the publication Information About Hospice: A Consumer's Guide, which contains information about the advantages and financial aspects of hospice, how to select quality hospice care that is best suited for a patient's needs, and state resources available to patients.

  • Hospice Education Institute
    3 Unity Square
    P.O. Box 98
    Machiasport, ME 04655-0098
    1-207-355-8800
    1-800-331-1620
    http://www.hospiceworld.org
    Offers information and referrals on US hospice programs and provides regional seminars on hospice care throughout the country.

  • Hospice Net
    401 Bowling Avenue, Suite 51
    Nashville, TN 37205-5124
    http://www.hospicenet.org
    Provides information and support about end-of-life issues for patients, families, and friends facing life-threatening illnesses.

Additional Resources

Knowing where to find credible and accurate information about caregiving is an important step toward making life better for yourself and your loved one. The following resources may help:

Caregiving: Hospice-Proven Techniques for Healing Body and Soul
Douglas C. Smith
John Wiley & Sons
ISBN: 0028616634, 240 pages
1997

The Family Handbook of Hospice Care
Fairview Health Services
Fairview Press
ISBN: 1577490908, 192 pages
1999

The Hospice Handbook: A Complete Guide
Larry Beresford and Elizabeth Kubler-Ross
Little Brown & Company
ISBN: 0316091383, 165 pages
1993

All About Hospice: A Consumer's Guide
A free brochure from the Hospice Association of America is available at
http://www.hospice-america.org/guide.html.