Term Paper on "Health Care System Has Focused"

Term Paper 11 pages (2963 words) Sources: 1+

[EXCERPT] . . . .

hospicefoundation.org/what_is/.The first hospice in the United States was established in New Haven, Connecticut in 1974. Today there are more than 3,100 hospice programs in the United States. Puerto Rico and Guam. Hospice programs cared for nearly 540,000 people in the United States in 1998. Hospice is not a place but a concept of care. Eighty percent of hospice care is provided in the patient's home, family member's home and in nursing homes. Inpatient hospice facilities are sometimes available to assist with care giving
How it Works

When a patient is deemed incurable and told to be in the last six months of life they become eligible to have the services of Hospice. Hospice sends a representative out to the house to meet with the patient, and if the patient desires, the family members of the patient. The referral to Hospice can either come from a doctor or the family who would contact Hospice services on their own.

Patients referred to hospice when life expectancy is approximately six months benefit most from hospice care. While patients must have a doctor's referral to enter hospice, the patient, family and friends can initiate the process by contacting a local hospice program
There are several initial steps to be taken for the Hospice services to be initiated for optimum benefit including:

Before providing care, hospice staff meets with the patient's personal physician(s) and a hospice physician to discuss patient history, current physical symptoms and life expectancy.

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After an initial meeting with physicians, hospice staff meets with both the patient and their family. They discuss the hospice philosophy, available services and expectations.

Prior to service, staff and patients also discuss pain and comfort levels, support systems, financial and insurance resources, medications and equipment needs.

"plan of care" is developed for the patient. This plan is regularly reviewed and revised according to patient condition.

Bereavement services and counseling are typically available to loved ones for a year after the patient's death
This benefit covers all services, medications and equipment related to the illness. These include:

Physician services

Nursing services

Home health aides

Medical appliances and supplies

Spiritual, dietary, and other counseling

Continuous care during crisis periods

Trained volunteers

Bereavement services

Approximately 43 states and the District of Columbia offer hospice coverage under Medicaid
The need for Hospice can be clearly evidenced by the increasing number of patients who are entering the system. http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/images/nhhcsd/2000chart.gif

The below chart clears up some of the questions that are often asked of the program:

Myth: Hospice is where you go when there is "nothing else to be done."

Reality: Hospice is the "something more" that can be done for the patient and the family when the illness cannot be cured. It is a concept based on comfort-oriented care. Referral into hospice is a movement into another mode of therapy, which may be more appropriate for terminal care.

Myth: Families should be isolated from a dying patient.

Reality: Hospice staff believe that when family members (including children) experience the dying process in a caring environment, it helps counteract the fear of their own mortality and the mortality of their loved one.

Myth: Hospice care is more expensive.

Reality: Studies have shown hospice care to be no more costly. Frequently it is less expensive than conventional care during the last six months of life. Less high-cost technology is used, and family, friends, and volunteers provide 90% of the day-to-day patient care at home.

Myth: You can't keep you own doctor if you enter hospice.

Reality: Hospice physicians work closely with your doctor of choice to determine a plan of care
Hospice counts on volunteers. The American system has almost 100,000 volunteers working nationwide. Hospice believes that dying is more than a physical event, it is also a personal event and one that is a journey to be supported through comfort and understanding with an emphasis on acceptance.

Volunteers in hospice find it personally gratifying, intellectually stimulating, and emotionally meaningful to assist those in need at a critical point in their lives
WHY ITS TIME TO EXPAND

If one wants to understand why it is time to expand the services of the Hospice Organization to Morocco and Egypt one only needs to look at where mankind is in medical history as well as the state of health care in those two nations.

The medical care in Morocco has not progressed as quickly as the population needs it to. The past few years have seen budget problems nationwide when it comes to the needed medical care in the country
In 1998, the Moroccan population was estimated at 27.8 million inhabitants. The population growth rate was 1.8% for the period 1995 to 2000. By 2020, the population should reach 38.7 million inhabitants
Egypt also can benefit from implementing a Hospice program. There is a movement to get that done and the meetings have begun to study the feasibility of such a program being implemented there.

For the first time in Egypt, a Hospice has been created in the Cairo Evangelical Medical Hospital. They help terminally ill patients - but there is a waiting list and they desperately need well-trained professionals. Egypt's social indicators have improved significantly in recent decades. Infant mortality dropped from 150 per 1,000 live births in 1970-75 to 38 per 1,000 live births in 2001, and life expectancy at birth has shown a steady improvement and now stands at just over 70 years<

EWS FROM AROUND AFRICA http://www.hospicecare.com/Newsletters/july2003/page8.html."

The improved lifespan provides quality of life but it also means there are more people who are going through the healthcare system.

The use of volunteers in Hospice for these two nations would greatly cut down on the expense currently faced with the treatment of the terminally ill.

CONCLUSION

Hospice is a much needed service that has revolutionized the care and treatment of terminally ill patients during the final months of their lives. They are provided with dignity and comfort for those months. Egypt and Morocco are faced with rising populations, tight health care budgets, and a need to care for the dying. Allowing Hospice services to set up services in those nations would alleviate many of the current dilemmas being faced in the industry. The large numbers of volunteers would reduce the cost to treat terminally ill patients. The education about dying would assist families accept the inevitable and show them how to support the patient during this final transition of life. Hospice is changing the way dying is viewed, and moving the organization into Egypt and Morocco would be an excellent start by providing a pilot program in the countries for other nations to observe and evaluate.

References

Public health system suffers from chronic underfunding http://home.aigonline.com/content/0,1109,16263-694-ceo,00.html

NEWS FROM AROUND AFRICA http://www.hospicecare.com/Newsletters/july2003/page8.html

Healthcare & Medical Market in Morocco http://www.tradepartners.gov.uk/healthcare/morocco/profile/overview.shtml

What is Hospice? http://www.hospicefoundation.org/what_is/

Myths and Facts About Hospice http://www.hospicefoundation.org/what_is/myths.htm

Public health system suffers from chronic underfunding http://home.aigonline.com/content/0,1109,16263-694-ceo,00.html

Volunteering And Hospice

http://www.hospicefoundation.org/what_is/volunteer.htm READ MORE

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