Demystifying Hospice with Dr. Rob Ali
October 28, 2022 | Hospice, Kline Galland Staff
At Kline Galland, we offer highly specialized and compassionate hospice care – a commitment that life is to be cherished at every moment. Our program is based on a foundation of empathy, integrity and faith and our hospice care team is coordinated by a highly trained interdisciplinary team. We are incredibly proud of the comprehensive network of care we offer for those making decisions regarding the end-of-life process.
Recently, Kline Galland’s Hospice Physician Dr. Rob Ali, sat down to answer some questions about Kline Galland’s hospice program:
What is hospice?
Hospice falls under the umbrella of palliative care, a field of medicine aimed at optimizing quality of life and mitigating suffering. While the umbrella term “palliative care” represents this flavor of medicine for all people with serious or complex illness, “hospice” is different in that hospice serves primarily patients with a limited life expectancy due to late or end-stage illness.
What does palliative care and hospice aim to do for a patient?
Under the palliative care umbrella, a palliative care clinic embedded in a cancer center aims to help patients through cancer treatment whereas a hospice team aims to provide patient-centered medical care focused relieving symptoms and providing comfort at the end of life. The palliative care and hospice teams are unique as it consists of a multidisciplinary team of doctors, nurses, social workers, chaplains, and volunteers who work together to take care of the whole patient, not just the medical issues. We aim to relieve suffering of all kinds: physical, psychosocial, and spiritual through the closely coordinated work of the interdisciplinary team.
What does a hospice interdisciplinary team look like at Kline Galland?
At Kline Galland Hospice, the nurse case manager is the center of the care team and acts as the point person for their patient. They provide direct medical care to patients at home during weekly visits for nursing visit with symptom check and support in close communication with the hospice doctor. Additionally, nurse case managers may help coordinate with pharmacies to get appropriate medications and equipment delivered to patients. The nurse case managers are incredibly kind and approachable professionals that provide excellent medical care for their patients.
Supporting the nurse case managers are the social workers, chaplains, volunteers, and doctors. Hospice social workers may help families and nurse case managers navigate the confusing medical system. Hospice chaplains may focus on supporting the patient and family in their faith or spirituality. Hospice doctors may focus on providing the nurse case manager and the patients with excellent recommendations for symptoms management (treatment of pain or other bothersome symptoms).
Of course, this is not an exhaustive list of the services provided by the interdisciplinary team, but hopefully paints a picture of how closely the interdisciplinary team works together.
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To learn more about Kline Galland’s Hospice Program, please click here. Anyone can inquire about hospice services. You, your loved one or your physician may request an evaluation to see if hospice care is appropriate. Our team of professionals are ready when you are to discuss options that focus on comfort-care and improve quality of life. Call now to see how Kline Galland can help at (206) 805-1930.
