Hospice Care Significantly Underutilized Despite Proven Benefits, VNANNJ Advocates for Awareness
TL;DR
Early hospice enrollment through VNANNJ provides patients and families with comprehensive multidisciplinary support that maximizes quality of life during final stages.
VNANNJ's hospice program transitions patients seamlessly from standard care to supportive palliative services using physicians, nurses, social workers and trained volunteers.
Increased hospice awareness creates more compassionate end-of-life experiences, reducing stress and discomfort for patients and families during life's final phase.
Hospice care actually extends and improves life's final months despite common misconceptions, with median enrollment lasting just 18 days nationally.
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The Visiting Nurse Association of Northern NJ (VNANNJ) is intensifying efforts to enhance public awareness about hospice care, addressing significant underutilization of services that have been available for over four decades. Despite proven benefits for patients with life-limiting illnesses, many qualified individuals and their families miss opportunities for meaningful, multidisciplinary hospice services.
Faith F. Scott, President and Chief Executive Officer of VNANNJ, emphasized the need for candid dialogue about this sensitive topic. "We're committed to leading a compassionate but candid dialogue about this sensitive topic that will foster greater understanding and dispel some lingering myths," Scott stated. "This is necessary because while countless people benefit from hospice assistance every day many qualified patients and their loved ones are missing opportunities to receive meaningful, multidisciplinary hospice services."
Current statistics reveal troubling patterns in hospice utilization. According to the U.S. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services Hospice Monitoring Report, the median length of time spent in hospice care is just 18 days, despite most patients being eligible for six months or more of services. Approximately 20% of patients are enrolled less than four days before death, indicating widespread delays in accessing appropriate end-of-life care.
These statistics reflect the difficulty patients and families face in accepting that life has entered its final phase. Even physicians struggle with this reality, often avoiding or delaying hospice referrals. A report in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) noted that "Death is the ultimate inconvenient truth, a conversation far too many doctors still go out of their way to avoid."
Scott encourages everyone to understand fundamental hospice facts before needs arise within their own families. "For instance, many are unaware that hospice is a life-affirming service and its purpose is not to hasten death," she explained. "Also, patients or loved ones designated to make their care decisions can request hospice if a doctor hesitates to make a referral."
Choosing comprehensive home health care organizations like VNANNJ can provide long-term benefits for patients with serious, prolonged illnesses or uncertain prognoses. These organizations are uniquely positioned to seamlessly transition patients from standard care to supportive palliative care and hospice when necessary. This continuity significantly reduces stress, discomfort, and inconvenience for both patients and family caregivers.
VNANNJ established its dedicated hospice program in 1995 as a natural extension of its home care services dating back to 1898. The hospice team includes physicians, nurses, certified home health aides, licensed social workers, chaplains, and specially trained volunteers who provide personalized assistance based on patients' physical, emotional, practical, and spiritual needs. For more information, visit https://vnannj.org.
Curated from 24-7 Press Release
