Home health and long-term care vs hospice: understanding the difference

People may mistakenly think that home care and hospice care are one and the same. However, home care and hospice are two distinct services that both provide support to people with serious conditions but differ in goals and eligibility.

Home care

The main scope of home health care is curative. The goal is to help patients recover from a surgery, injury or illness. They are typically visited by skilled nursing providers, physical therapists, speech-language pathologists or occupational therapists. The length of the service depends on the patient’s needs and goals.

To be eligible, people must be considered homebound—meaning they have limited ability to leave the home without help.

Hospice care

Hospice care can be administered at home or in another setting and is not curative. Patients who have terminal illnesses can be placed in hospice care. This care focuses on pain and symptom management for those who are not expected to live longer than six months. Hospice services can include help with personal care from a home health aide, skilled nursing or medical social work to help with advanced directives and insurance, and bereavement counseling.

To receive hospice care, a doctor must determine that the patient has less than six months to live if the illness will follow the typical course. A patient, however, does not have to be homebound.

Hospice visits typically increase over time as the patient’s health declines.

—MetroCreativeConnection