LEWISTON – The number of people who receive hospice services in Maine has grown over the years, but is still lower than many other states.
Local hospice providers believe one way to increase the number is to debunk three popular myths.
Paulette Crabtree, the general manager of Beacon House, a new hospice agency in Lewiston, often asks people, “What is the first thing that you think of when you hear the word hospice?”
Most people say cancer.
Although many people who receive hospice care do have cancer, the service is for anyone who has a terminal illness and meets certain criteria.
Last year, Androscoggin Home Care and Hospice, the other hospice provider in the tri-county region, provided services to 459 hospice patients. According to Laurie Windsor, the director of marketing for that Lewiston-based agency, only 60 percent of those people had cancer. The others suffered from heart disease, respiratory problems, kidney failure, late-stage dementia and other fatal illnesses.
Another myth, according to the hospice providers, is that people can only contact hospice if they have weeks or days to live.
The criteria set by Medicare is that a person simply needs a probable prognosis of six months or less, and they must no longer be seeking lifesaving medical treatment.
If a person lives beyond six months, the hospice team doesn’t stop visiting, the providers said. Some patients receive care for up to two years.
The final myth is that hospice is only for people who choose to die at home. Both Androscoggin Home Care and Beacon care for patients living in nursing homes and other long-term care facilities.
“We realized that these patients were dying without the same hospice benefit of those who stayed at home,” said Dave McDaniel, the president of Androscoggin Home Care and Hospice, about that agency’s decision three years ago to extend services to people living in long-term residential facilities.
The hospice team works closely with a nursing home’s staff to coordinate a plan for each patient.
“Our goal is to go in and complement the work that they are already doing,” McDaniel said.
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