It can be a difficult time for everyone involved when the decision is made to call on hospice care for a loved one. First and foremost, this type of home health care is provided for people at the end of their life, which means they know they’re going to die. While a difficult subject to discuss, hospice care is designed to make your loved one comfortable, at peace, without pain and to be able to be at home with dignity and sharing time with family.

Hospice care in Palm Beach County provides so much more than that, too, such as family support services, including ongoing counseling and therapy, spiritual support and other services. So how do you choose among the different hospices to make sure you’ve made a good choice for your loved one?

The Interview

You definitely want to interview hospice facilities or before signing up for any of their services. Ideally, the hospice workers will come out to your home for a sit down interview, where you can ask them questions, talk about concerns and get a solid plan laid out. If you like who you’re dealing with, then it’s a good fit and you can take things from there.

Some hospice facilities might expect the initial consultation to be done on the phone. If one of the hospices isn’t very communicative or is rather dismissive on the phone, then you’ve narrowed your list a little more. Furthermore, if you look into the hospices in your area, chances are some of them haven’t been around for many years, maybe even less than a year.

If this is the case, you’re better off finding an established hospice facility. This might sound generic to you, but you need to realize that among hospices, it is quite common for them to be rather “fly by night,” not for any bad reason, just the nature of the business as its history. So, see which hospice facilities in your area have been there for years.

Nights & Weekends

What if your loved one has a medical emergency during the evening or on a weekend and you’re in need of the hospice care workers to come out there? What you want to do is ask them about response time. If the hospice workers are willing to be on call with a quick response time, then they are a step above the rest. This differentiation among hospice care facilities is a chief characteristic to look for, since hospice care is all about the journey.

Turning To Hospice

It is sometimes extremely difficult for people to decide to call on hospices for their services. It’s hard to come to the realization that a loved one is going to die. However, many people never get to say goodbye, and now with the guidance of hospice, your family can enter into a healthy process that considers everyone and makes your loved one the most comfortable he or she can be.

If you’re struggling with the decision whether or not to call hospice care facilities, reach out to someone. There are many people out there with stories regarding hospice care, and they can tell you just how special they are when it comes to getting through the difficult times.

For more information for hospice care in Palm Beach County, call Prestige Nursing Services at 561-845-7711. The home health care company that has been serving the community since 1980.