For our Care Professional Partners
Click here for information specifically for our Care Professional partners.
Peace at the End of Life
We all deserve peace at the end of life. To help us all achieve that, we’ve created and pulled together many resources like the following:
- Peace At The End
- The Care and End-of-Life Planning resources below
Changes that may happen near the end of life
Appetite and Eating
As a person nears the end of their life they often stop eating. Other times, it becomes unsafe for the person to consume solid food, or even liquids.
At times, family members become concerned, and urge or pressure the person to eat and drink. In these circumstances, we discuss the situation with the family members and share the following information with them in writing. Read more.
Care and End-of-Life Planning
♥ Advance Directive
Looking for a plain-language, no-frills advance health care directive (California power of attorney for health care) form? Caring House has created one for you to use and share with others. Use this free, four-page directive to name those you want to make health care decisions for you if the time comes. Get the Advance Directive.
♥ Choose the Best Person to Speak for You
If you become incapacitated (unable to speak or make decisions), someone else will need to make care decisions on your behalf.
You can choose in advance who that person will be. That’s the best way to obtain the care you would want and avoid what you wouldn’t want.
Don’t assume that the best person will be put in charge of your care decisions. You need to choose who will decide for you! It’s Step #1 in care planning.
Our free and simple two-page guide will help you choose the best person. Read or download the guide.
♥ Advance Directive Wallet Card
You’ve picked those you want to speak for you. You’ve named them in your advance health care directive. What’s next? Complete your Advance Directive Wallet Card and keep it in your wallet. That way the medical team will know quickly who to contact to make decisions for you. Request your Wallet Card from Caring House today.
♥ Communicating What You Want
The absolute best way to get the end-of-life care YOU want is to think and talk about it ahead of time. Let others know your wishes, values and views about life and care. Healthcare and Elder Law Programs Corporation (H.E.L.P.) has created a wonderful plain-language written tool to help you with that thinking and communication. The tool is called “Your Way: A Guide To Help You Stay in Charge of Decisions About Your Medical Care.” You can request a free copy of Your Way on H.E.L.P.’s website.
♥ Hospital and Care Lingo
Ever been mystified by medical and care terminology? In hospitals and other care settings, words and phrases are often used that are rarely used elsewhere. From “advance directive” to “DNR” – from “full code” to “renal failure” – we’ve put together this quick, plain-language guide to hospital and care terms. Glossary of hospital and care terms from Caring House.
♥ Funeral and Burial Instructions
To help all of us plan ahead for funerals and burials, we’ve created a free funeral and burial instructions document. Print it out, complete it, put it in a safe place, and tell your family and friends about it. Don’t leave everyone else in the painful situation of guessing what you’d have wanted. Make extra blank copies and give them to your friends and family.
Hospice Care and Services
Many individuals and families in our community benefit from receiving hospice services. Hospice service teams offer medical care and pain and symptom management, as well as spiritual support, counseling and education.
At Caring House, we welcome residents who are using Medicare-certified hospice services. Hospice team members will visit those residents and provide vital support to them and their loved ones, in collaboration with our staff. Caring House itself is not a hospice service.
♥ Directory of South Bay Hospices
We’ve created a directory of Medicare-certified hospices that serve patients in or near the South Bay area. We’ve noted whether they have already served one or more residents at Caring House. Before helping residents, a hospice enters into a care coordination agreement with Caring House.
♥ Nitty Gritty Hospice Checklist for Families
There are many lists of hospices online and good overall advice on how to find a hospice service. The advice always includes checking on Medicare-certification and state licensing, and typically suggests obtaining references from care professionals. Medicare.gov/hospice compare and NHPCO.org and hospicefoundation.org are good sources.
We created a Checklist to help you explore important additional topics with any potential hospice. In the Checklist we refer to the patient as “Mom” for convenience. We created the Checklist based on our work with many hospices. Read or download the Checklist.
Coronavirus precautions for home hospice care
Caring for a person you love at home is challenging. Now you must add precautions for the Coronavirus.
We created this guide for you based on our experience serving Caring House residents on hospice during the Coronavirus pandemic. We are not doctors or medical personnel and have gathered information from the CDC and other sources believed to be reliable. Consult with your own healthcare and/or hospice professional about precautions you should take. Read or download the free guide.
Listen Talk Feel Do
We gathered wisdom and resources on communication, grief, death and dying, loss and more. Click here for more.
Other Websites
- Advance care planning site from NHPCO – National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization website with plenty of practical guidance on advance care planning.
- Medicare Hospice Benefits – The official Medicare hospice benefits booklet. Includes who’s eligible for hospice care, what services are included, how to find a hospice program and where to get more information.
- Find a hospice service provider through National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization.
- Locate a hospice through HospiceDirectory.org
External websites are provided for reference purposes only.