This Month Highlights The True Purpose Of Hospice Care For All

UNDATED (WJON News) -- November is National Hospice and Palliative Care Month.

Linda Allen is the Executive Director at Quiet Oaks Hospice House in St. Cloud. She says there's a myth that hospice care is just for cancer patients.

The truth is, it's there for anyone with a life-limiting illness.  That could be heart disease, COPD, kidney failure, Alzheimer's, it doesn't matter what the disease is.  The quality of that care at the end of life is there for all patients.

Allen says it's another myth that people who accept hospice care are giving up.

Some think that if they opt for hospice, it's a resignation to death.  But the reality is that in hospice, we are focusing on the quality of life for that person.  Yes, we provide comfort, and we provide support, rather than curative treatment, but we hold hope for them until the very end.  And we help them live every day.

Allen says the best gift you can give your loved ones is creating an advanced care plan. She says only about 50 percent of people 65 and older have a plan in place.

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Allen says hospice care can be provided in a patient's home, an assisted living facility, the hospital, or a designated facility like Quiet Oaks.