Former US President Jimmy Carter has entered hospice care in Plains, Georgia, after a series of brief hospital stays.
The Carter Center said in a statement Saturday that Carter, 98, “decided to spend the remaining time at home with his family and receive hospital care rather than further medical intervention.”
WHAT IS HOSPISE TREATMENT?
Hospice care is care designed to make patients comfortable and to reduce pain and suffering in their last days. It is usually performed at home, but can also be performed in nursing homes, hospitals and hospice facilities. It is reserved for those declared by two doctors to be terminally ill, with a life span of six months or less.
The average time spent in hospice is about three weeks, says Dr. Arif Kamal, chief patient officer of the American Cancer Society.
HOW ARE THE HOSPITAL PATIENTS TREATED?
Treatment may include medication, but only to relieve symptoms, not with the intention of curing any disease.
Patients are usually cared for by family members, supervised by hospital doctors, nurses, and social workers. A large part of the focus is on making sure family caregivers feel supported, Kamal says.
The team “managed everything from physical symptoms to emotional distress, helping with the logistics of burial, wills and planning for further care,” he said.
WHO IS ELIGIBLE FOR HOSPISE TREATMENT?
Under Medicare regulations, patients can enroll in a hospice if they meet certain criteria based on their condition. For example, cancer patients must be unable to perform at least two of their usual daily activities without assistance, such as eating or dressing, with other challenges which may include evidence that the disease has become widespread and their health has deteriorated over time. .
It’s not clear what led to Carter’s decision to enter hospital care, but in recent years he has been treated for metastatic skin cancer and injuries from falls.
Following the model of the British program, the hospital movement began in the United States in the late 1970s during Carter’s presidency.
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