VITAS® Healthcare Releases "Thinking About Hospice" Discussion Guide To Support National Healthcare Decisions Day On April 16

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Apr 16, 2020, 09:15 ET

MIAMI, April 16, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Talking about end-of-life care is easier when patients and families have facts about what hospice is and how it can help. On National Healthcare Decisions Day, VITAS Healthcare released a free, downloadable discussion guide called "Thinking About Hospice" to help patients have important conversations and reach informed healthcare decisions.

Advance care planning is appropriate for adults at any age or stage of health. The primary goal is to ensure that people receive medical care in line with their values, goals and preferences. Having this conversation requires skill, time, sensitivity and compassion. VITAS produced a 20-minute video showing the entire SPIKES experience with a patient so physicians can see the process in action. View the full-length video at VITAS.com.

SPIKES, a six-step process developed in 2000 at MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, Texas, provides clear directions for intense-but-rewarding conversations between doctors and their patients/families.

As the nation's leading provider of end-of-life care, VITAS encourages frank and honest conversations. Patients need the help of their families, physicians and other trusted sources to decide on and document the types of care they want—and do not want—as they face the challenges of advanced illness and the end of life. Healthcare providers can also forward the guide via email to patients and families from the VITAS mobile referral app for clinicians.

"Hospice can be an important part of living the way you want to and having the quality of life that matters to you," the guide reassures in its opening pages. Sprinkled with common patient/family scenarios and easy-to-use checklists, the robust guide:

Describes hospice and palliative care, and the hospice team members who provide it
Explains who pays for hospice
Poses sample questions for patient-family conversations
Describes the four levels of hospice care defined by Medicare

Easy-to-understand resources and guidance
In plain, easy-to-understand language, the guide also provides helpful tips and resources on advance directives, advance care planning, spiritual and psychosocial support, grief, caregiving and other topics.

"Especially on National Healthcare Decisions Day, it's essential to understand that advance care planning is appropriate for adults at any age or stage of health," says Dr. Joseph Shega, senior vice president and chief medical officer for VITAS. "It should be an ongoing process that takes place every time a patient's medical condition changes. Our 'Thinking About Hospice' guide serves as an ideal foundation to ask the right questions and start the conversation."

Resources for healthcare professionals, too
VITAS encourages physicians and healthcare providers to embrace the confidence-building SPIKES protocol for delivering difficult news and helping patients and families understand their options for care as illness progresses.

The six-step SPIKES process (which stands for setting, perception, invitation, knowledge, emotions, and strategy-summary) was developed in 2000 at MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, Texas. It provides clear directions for intense-but-rewarding conversations that help patients understand their disease, decide on their options for care, and document their end-of-life wishes and preferences. VITAS has produced short SPIKES reference graphics, as well as a 20-minute video showing the entire SPIKES experience with a patient so physicians can see the process in action.

For more information 24/7/365, call 800.723.3233 (patients/families), 800.93.VITAS (physicians and referral partners) or visit VITAS.com.

About VITAS® Healthcare
Established in 1978, VITAS Healthcare is a pioneer and leader in the American hospice movement. Headquartered in Miami, Florida, VITAS (pronounced VEE-tahs) operates 48 hospice programs in 14 states (California, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Kansas, Missouri, New Jersey, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Texas, Virginia and Wisconsin) and the District of Columbia. VITAS employs 12,538 professionals who care for terminally ill patients daily, primarily in the patients' homes, and also in the company's 28 inpatient hospice units as well as in hospitals, nursing homes and assisted living communities/residential care facilities for the elderly. At the conclusion of the fourth quarter of 2019, VITAS reported an average daily census of 19,192. Visit www.vitas.com.