National Home Care and Hospice Month - Care at home: When is it time for hospice or home health services

Date: 11/24/2025

November is National Home Care and Hospice Month. Care at home allows patients to recover in their home with their loved ones or have comfort and symptom management for quality end-of-life care. Northern Light Home Care and Hospice can help guide you through what home health services are available. Frequently asked questions are what is hospice, when is it time for hospice, who is eligible for hospice care, is caregiver support provided, and what kind of home health services are available?
 
Hospice Care
It’s never easy to start a conversation about death but if you or a loved one are facing a terminal diagnosis or if you are thinking about stopping curative treatments, it is time to begin this conversation with Home Care and Hospice staff so that you will have all the information you need to make decisions about your care.
 
“It is an integrated process between home care and hospice teams with the goal of meeting the patient’s needs and keeping them out of the hospital,” explains Kathy Kelley, RN, hospice nurse. “With our hospice patients, we share that end of life is not easy for anyone as we cannot change the outcome, but it can be made easier with the help of knowledgeable, caring, and dedicated clinicians who can help support you on your journey.”
 
Hospice is not to cure illness but to alleviate pain, control symptoms, focus on quality of remaining life and provide spiritual, social, and emotional support for the patient and their family. Although many people believe that hospice care is designed to provide the necessary care for the final days of life, studies have proven that earlier engagement of hospice can extend life and improve quality of life as well. Hospice care can help with managing physical symptoms, offering emotional support to the patient and their families, providing information about changes one might experience as the illness progresses, guiding families in giving care and support to their loved one, preventing hospitalizations with a hospice nurse available any time, day or night, and making bereavement support available to families in a variety of ways to up to 13 months.
 
Home Health Care
Are you anticipating a total joint replacement or orthopedic surgery? Have a slow healing wound or a chronic disease? Obtaining care at home can help you have a better, and faster recovery, regain independence quicker, and minimize your infection risk from a hospital. Services available are:
 
Skilled Nursing – Care for all ages including complex medical patients requiring IVs, wound care, chronic disease management, post-surgical including total joint replacement and orthopedic surgeries
Telehealth – At home remote monitoring by experienced nurses caring for patients with congestive heart failure, COPD, or pregnant women with high blood pressure significantly reducing re-hospitalization rates.

Occupational, Physical, Speech Therapies

• Total joint replacement (knees, hips, shoulders)
• Orthopedic and back surgeries
• Patients with impaired mobility independence; moving from one surface to another, balance, stair training, home management tasks
• Neurological rehabilitation for patients who have experienced a stroke

Social Work – Social workers make referrals to outside agencies to help patients successfully remain at home after a home care services discharge. They help connect the patient with the right resources to remain at home. Social workers can help navigate complex medical or long-term care systems, guide you through Advance Care Planning, and end-of-life decisions, with a compassionate, listening ear.
Home Health Aide – Assist patients with self-care tasks (bathing and dressing); if under hospice care, home health aides can provide companionship and sit with your loved one while you run errands or take a nap.

Obtaining Care at Home Services
If you feel you need hospice and/or home health services, please speak to your primary care or specialty care provider, surgeon, or hospital about a referral.

To learn more about Northern Light Home Care and Hospice, please call 1.800.757.3326 or visit northernlighthealth.org/HCATHOME.