Hospice

Care, Compassion, and Guidance

Hospice is a philosophy and a special kind of healthcare designed to provide care and comfort to those living in the final stages of life and to their families and loved ones.

Founded in 1912 in Wayne, Pennsylvania, Neighborhood has been providing quality, compassionate care to many thousands of residents in Chester County and neighboring counties.

Hospice care helps people deal with the physical, emotional, spiritual, and social matters that come at life's final stages; dealing with the person as a whole, focusing on those things that make life valuable and rewarding. Most people are surprised to discover that hospice isn't really so much about dying as it is about living and making the most of each precious moment.

To help patients and families cope with the many and complex challenges of a terminal illness, Neighborhood Hospice's goal is to maintain the comfort and dignity of the patient by treating the physical, emotional, spiritual and social symptoms of the disease rather than trying to cure the disease. The Hospice care team involves the patient's own physician, registered nurses, medical director, social workers, nursing aides, chaplains, trained volunteers and the bereavement team. Family and friends are involved in the patient's care as well.

Neighborhood Health offers three programs:

• The Certified Hospice Program: This program is for a person of any age whose physician has given him a life expectancy of six months or less. The goal of this program is to maintain the comfort and dignity of the person by treating the physical, emotional, spiritual and social symptoms of the disease rather than trying to cure the disease.
• The Palliative Care Program: This program blends end of life care with more aggressive, curative treatment.
• The Inpatient Hospice Program: Neighborhood Health offers an inpatient program for those patients who need more direct care from skilled nurses at all hours of the day. Please read more about the program under our Inpatient Unit tab.
  

Last Updated: 12/13/2011