Don’t let your many questions about hospice or home health care prevent you from finding compassionate, expert support. We’ve answered the most common questions here, so you can make informed decisions for yourself or a loved one.
View our complete list of home care and hospice services.
Yes, round-the-clock care is available.
Home care and home healthcare are general terms for all services provided in the home.
However, home health services are skilled services provided by licensed professionals, such as registered nurses (RNs) and therapists. Visit our home health services page to learn more.
Yes. Our team is highly trained and sensitive to the needs of people with these conditions.
Cost depends on what kind of care you need, how often you need it, and how it’s paid for. Here’s a quick breakdown:
Yes, but please refer to our answer to the question above to understand what may be covered by these plans.
Minimums vary based on the service lines we provide. Medicaid programs are state-authorized and must follow the authorization provided for time spent receiving care. You can receive private duty care for at least two hours per visit.
If you’re starting to worry about your loved one’s safety, health, or independence, it’s time to explore options. Here are signs that home care might help:
Daily life is getting harder:
Health and safety risks are rising:
You’re feeling stretched thin:
Caregivers do not need to be licensed, but they are highly trained. We run background checks on all our employees.
We try to keep the same caregiver with patients as much as possible.
If you feel comfortable with this solution, we will fill the opening with another Phoenix caregiver.
Absolutely. Let us know how we can best meet your needs.
When we hire, we look for the “x-factor” that separates good nurses and caregivers from those who are genuinely excellent, committed, and compassionate. We also offer continued training and retention programs to keep the best talent on Team Phoenix.
Phoenix Home Care & Hospice is unlike any other home health provider. When you choose Phoenix, you experience:
Live-in caregivers are available through local caregiving agencies. These caregivers provide consistent care around the clock. However, caregivers don’t have to live in the home to provide 24/7 care. Private duty caregivers are also available 24/7, delivering all the benefits, help, and support of a live-in caregiver without the client providing a place for them to stay. A leading home care provider can staff familiar, professionally trained private duty caregivers who take shifts to ensure the team is rested, refreshed, and ready to provide care.
Professional caregiving agencies are always the first choice for a 24/7 caregiver to ensure professionalism, high standards, and expertise. Ask your chosen agency about each of these categories to determine the right fit:
As you search for a caregiver, keep in mind that “live-in caregivers” go by other names in the caregiving marketplace, including private duty caregivers. Private duty care, like live-in care, provides professional caregivers in two-hour blocks of time up to 24/7 care. Private duty caregivers help with daily living tasks, such as housekeeping, meal preparation, laundry, transportation, companionship, and more, just like a live-in caregiver.
Live-in home care offers 24/7 care in your home, so that there is always someone present for help with daily tasks, such as personal care, housework, companionship, transportation, and medication reminders. A comparable service, private duty care, can also staff caregivers around the clock without the client providing living space for the caregiver. This is the typical process for starting care with a live-in or private duty caregiver:
A Certified Nursing Assistant (CNA) job and a caregiver job support people at home. CNAs are certified care professionals. Caregivers may or may not be certified depending on the particular job and state requirements.
A CNA role requires a formal certification and often includes more hands-on personal care that requires clinical training. A caregiver job may include some personal care, but focuses on daily living support, including light housekeeping, laundry, meal preparation, medication reminders, and companionship.
The best hospice company in your state or region is determined by customer trust, quality of care, and expertise. Each part of the United States has premier hospice care providers who stand out from the rest.
The best regional hospice providers:
The best state and multi-state providers:
Hospice care begins with a care team visiting your home to explain hospice benefits. The team will also create your individualized care plan in collaboration with your physician and hospice physician.
Hospice care provides the following services:
Across Missouri, Kansas, and Illinois, you have several options for end-of-life care. The most common form of hospice care is home hospice, which occurs in a residential setting, such as your house, nursing home, or skilled nursing facility. General inpatient (GIP) hospice at a hospice house or hospital is also available for short-term hospice services when family caregivers need a break or symptom and pain management requires more support than can be provided at home.
Your options also include a choice between local, regional, state, and national providers. Local providers specifically serve your community; regional providers balance a local approach with a wider reach; statewide or nationwide providers offer the broadest coverage, while serving individual communities.
Hospice care can be specifically tailored to the needs of dementia patients, including compassionate, sensitive care for pain and symptom management, emotional care, and spiritual support.
Dementia is a life-limiting illness that qualifies for hospice when a doctor certifies that they’ve met certain criteria based on the Functional Assessment Staging Tool (FAST) scale. This scale identifies cognitive and verbal decline, physical complications, nutritional decline, and an inability to perform activities related to daily living, such as walking, bathing, and dressing.
If a dementia patient can still make medical decisions, they determine whether hospice is the next best step. If not, the decision usually falls to their legally authorized representative, such as a healthcare proxy or durable power of attorney.
Hospice is comfort-focused care for someone with a life-limiting illness that would normally run its course in six months or less. Instead of trying to cure or treat the illness, hospice focuses on pain and symptom management and enhancing the patient’s quality of life as much as possible. Under Medicare, patients qualify for hospice when they wish to stop treatment and choose comfort care for their terminal illness, and their doctor orders hospice.
During hospice, your chosen team creates an individualized plan of care that is centered on pain management, comfort, and quality of life. Care can include nursing visits, a bath aide, social workers, spiritual support from a chaplain, community volunteers, and bereavement counseling.
All medications, equipment, and supplies related to the patient’s terminal illness are provided. A 24/7 nursing line is available for after-hours questions and concerns. There are options for inpatient respite care to give family caregivers relief and general inpatient care (GIP) when additional care is needed to control symptoms. Some hospice agencies also provide pamper care (e.g., hair styling, premium bath products, nail polish, and other self-care routines) to further enhance patients’ dignity and quality of life.
Palliative care focuses on pain and symptom management. It can begin at any stage of an illness and is provided alongside treatment that is meant to cure or manage the disease.
Hospice is a specific Medicare benefit for people with a life expectancy of six months or less and who have chosen the comfort of pain and symptom management instead of seeking a cure for or management of their illness.
Palliative care and hospice care are often used interchangeably, as a hospice patient is receiving the same kind of care that palliative care provides, just under different circumstances. You will hear many patients and healthcare professionals refer to hospice as palliative care, but from a Medicare perspective, the difference is distinct.
Live-in caregiver services and other 24/7 care depend on your state and zip code. The Federal Long-Term Care Insurance Program’s website allows you to view estimates for your specific location. Caregiver services with 24/7 care, such as private duty care, are paid out of pocket through long-term care insurance or authorized Veterans Affairs benefits.
Medicare and Medicaid cover the cost of hospice care for patients who qualify. Most private insurance plans include some hospice benefits, although coverage can vary. It is important to work with a knowledgeable hospice team that can interpret your benefits and coverage, so you get clarity and understanding during this time.
Home and Community-Based Services (HCBS) providers help people receive long-term support in their home, as opposed to a clinical setting. These services are designed for people who need help with daily living, often because of ongoing medical or functional needs.
Depending on the specific state program, HCBS providers may help with bathing, dressing, meals, housekeeping, medication support, respite care, transportation, and more. The main goal of HCBS is to help people stay as independent, safe, and connected to their community as possible. Ask a provider in your state to better understand specific services and eligibility.
Choose a Home and Community-Based Services (HCBS) provider by ensuring they offer the specific support you need at home, such as personal care, light housekeeping and laundry, respite care for a family caregiver, or assistance with transferring. Ask about the team’s licensing, accreditation, approach to communication, caregiver screening and training, what to expect during visits, and the values your caregivers are committed to. You should also confirm that your provider accepts your insurance coverage or waiver program, so you know what to expect.
Home and Community-Based Services (HCBS) waivers allow states to use Medicaid flexibly so that certain groups, such as those with specialized needs, get specific services at home.
Examples of HCBS waivers:
Home and Community-Based Services (HCBS) provide support in home and community settings to ensure a patient’s daily ongoing needs are met. Available through Medicare and Medicaid insurance, HCBS includes activities associated with daily life, like personal care; assistance that allows for independent living, such as help with meal prep, errands, and household work; health management; and more.
Medicare home health includes help from skilled nurses, medical social workers, and interdisciplinary healthcare professionals, like physical therapists. HCBS does not provide these healthcare services.
Private duty care offers similar care services to HCBS, yet it is paid for out of pocket, with long-term care insurance, or eligible Veterans Affairs benefits.
Institutional care is delivered in nursing facilities or other facility-based settings that may cover many of the same services as HCBS.
To find local resources for autism respite care, start with national locator tools, like the Access to Respite Care and Help (ARCH) Network, the Autism Society National Helpline, or the Autism Speaks respite tool.
You can also search for home care providers in your area that have Home and Community-Based Services (HCBS) and HCBS waiver programs that provide respite care through Medicaid and Medicare, including:
Check with your chosen home care provider to learn about eligibility and whether respite care is available in your region.
