Can a person be in hospice care without being terminally ill?

My mother in law is in hospice care, but she is still up and about, not totally bed ridden, mind is still keen. How come her doctor put her under this care if she has no cancer or terminally ill disease. All she has is stage 4 copd. That's it.

You act as though stage 4 COPD is a minor thing! I suppose the answer would be that there is very little her doctor can do to cure her, so there is no real reason for her to be cooped up in a hospital. With stage 4 COPD I would assume that she has a treatment plan that would be very difficult for her to manage on her own. In a hospice the nurses would be trained to look after her, watch out for emergencies, help with administering extra oxygen, organise her medicines, cook and clean etc. Just because she isn't bed ridden doesn't mean she has no reason to be there. She has a very serious and debilitating illness that needs special care.

COPD definitely has the potential to become a terminal disease. Many people die from it every year. There is no real cure, only symptom management. If she needs to be in a hospice to get the correct treatment plan then so be it. It is better than living in a hospital.

Doctors do lots of things to get care for people. I would suspect that it has something to do with money.

No. Hospice Care is for people who have a very short time to live. That's not to say that some don't stay there for months, but most die within a week or so.

That's between her and her health care provider. Hospice is usually provided to persons who have six months or less to live.

Isn't that a terminal illness? Hospice will generally not take patients who are not in the end stages of life.

Yes, hospice doent necessarlly mean that you are terminally ill. Most patients that are under hospice care are patients that are either elderly or that are near to ( as one can say) to death. Hospice in America has its certain classifications on how to qualify for Hospice, Pts with Cancer, COPD, Chronic Bronchitis, etc can qualify and as well benifit from Hospice.

That's it? That is a terminal illness, and one of the slowest ways to die. Have you even looked up any information on this? Could you possibly imagine slowly suffocating for a year or two and then having someone question that you're not worthy of health care to ensure that someone is present in the event of a loss of your breathing ability?

There's no answer to your question, since it doesn't apply to your Mother-in-Law as she IS terminally ill.

This quote is taken from a COPD Fact Sheet from 2006.

"COPD is the fourth leading cause of death in America."

That's it.....

Yes you can. I know a guy that at the age of 14 was beaten and then over dosed right after the beating and is now severally disabled. He has been since then under the care of Hospice. He is not dying. His mind is still there as well.

hospice is a "palliative care" concept...it focuses more on comfort and quality of life when your loved one is at the end stages of life, no matter what the disease. Usually people that are in hospice are diagnosed with 6 months to live or less. I have known many of my oncology patients to enter hospice and be completely aware of their surroundings and basically able to care for themselves. Think of it as more of a support system for your mother in law and your family.
As I was reading up a little bit, yes, you absolutely have to be "terminal" to be in hospice care. The person above probably has home health seeing them, not hospice. When I was in nursing school, one of my paitents had been discharged form hospice twice because he survived longer than 6 months each time!!

First, that is most definatly a terminal illness.

Second, hospice is a voluntarty and non-profit org and they do limit their services. If she has not been given less then 6 months, than she is not under hosipice care. And if she has been and surivives this time line, hosipice will discharge her.

She is probably under a home health care agencies. These companies are contracted out, are for-profit, and function in more or less the same capacity.

This happened to my father.
he had severe COPD , was not motivated to help himself, and required more care than assisted living could provide.
the solution? hospice. The hospice aid provided the extra hours of care that were needed. It was a nursing home or hospice.And medicare paid for it.

The criteria is a doctor's order and stating that she has 6 months or less to live. When the nurses check how someone is doing, if their vital signs don't improve, they may still stay in hospice. Some people have been in hospice well past the 6 month period. Also, people have been discharged from hospice because they were doing better. They can pick up hospice at a later time if their condition warrants it.

www.lungusa.org


Unfortunately, COPD is terminal and yes, you have to be terminal to receive a referral to Hospice.

Make the time matter!