Myth #1:  “Hospice is a place.”
Hospice is a way of caring for individuals in advanced stages of illness, not a place.  The majority of hospice clients are cared for in their own homes or the homes of a loved one.  However, hospice care can be provided wherever an individual lives.  We provide care for clients in nursing homes, assisted living facilities and hospitals. We also care for clients at Rose Arbor, our hospice residential facility in Kalamazoo.

Myth #2:  “Hospice is only for elderly people.”
Hospice services are available to individuals of any age.

Myth #3:  “Hospice can only help when family members are available to provide care.”
Hospice can help coordinate community resources to make home care possible for hospice clients who live alone or do not have someone to provide care.  Or, we can help to find an alternative location where the client can safely receive care. 

Myth #4:  “Hospice is for people who have no hope.”
Facing a serious illness is never easy.  However, even when life is measured in months instead of years, there is still a lot of living to do.  Hospice can help individuals spend their final months doing the things that are most important to them.  Hospice can provide the physical, emotional and spiritual support clients and families need to welcome each new day. 

Myth #5:  “Hospice is only for cancer patients”
Hospice Care of Southwest Michigan serves individuals with a variety of diagnoses, including end-stage heart disease, dementia, kidney disease and lung disease.  We care for individuals of any age in advanced stage of illness in fact, in 2005, 52% of our clients had an illness other than cancer. 

Myth #6:  “Hospice care is only appropriate in the last few days of life.”
Hospice care is for anyone in advanced stages of illness.  The hospice team can do much more to help maintain the best quality of life for the client and family when services begin sooner rather than later.

Myth #7:  “If a client lives longer than six months, Hospice cannot continue to care for him or her.”
The client’s own physician and the Hospice Medical Director decide whether or not hospice care is appropriate.  If the physician determines the illness is following its normal course, then the client continues to be qualified for hospice care.  Some patients receive hospice care well beyond six months.

Myth #8:  “Hospice is expensive.”
Medicare and Medicaid both have comprehensive hospice benefits.  Most private insurances also pay for hospice services.  Hospice Care of Southwest Michigan accepts clients based on their need for care, not their ability to pay. 

Myth #9:  “The Hospice team disappears after the client dies.”
We keep in touch with the family for 13 months after the death of the client.  We have grief support counselors available, support groups, newsletters and self-help mailings.  We also have a special program for children who have lost a loved one called Journeys. 

Myth # 10:  “Choosing hospice means giving up all medical treatment.”
Hospice places the client and family at the center of the care-planning process and provides high-quality pain management and symptom control.  The focus of hospice care is to enable clients to live the remainder of their lives as fully and as painlessly as possible. 

Myth #11:  “There are no hospices in my area”
99% of Medicare beneficiaries live in an area where hospice care is available.  Visit the National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization at  http://www.nhpco.org or call  (800) 658-8898 to find a hospice provider near you. 

Myth #12:  “All Hospices are the same.”
Not all hospice programs are the same.  Hospice Care of Southwest Michigan (HCSWM) distinguishes itself in the following ways