Patient and Family Services
Hospice Austin helps each patient and family make the most of each day of life. We honor the values of each individual, fitting our care to your needs. We know that this can be an intense and exhausting time filled with sorrow, fear and the unknown. Hospice Austin is here to walk side-by-side with you, every step of the way.
Hospice Austin provides comprehensive, specialized care to patients and families living with a life-threatening or advanced illness.
We provide our services:
Often, your doctor is the person who refers you or your loved one to Hospice Austin. However, anyone—the patient, family member or friend — can call Hospice Austin to get the admission started or get information. A home visit by a staff member is a good way to receive information about the services we can provide.
Services Provided – It’s About Choices
Each Hospice Austin patient has a team of highly experienced professionals who work with the patient and family to make decisions about the patient's care. The team consists of:
Physician
A Hospice Austin physician works with the patient’s personal physician to develop an individual plan of care. Hospice Austin physicians are specially trained to care for patients with advanced illness and are experts in pain and symptom control.
As part of Hospice Austin's commitment to excellent palliative (comfort) care, we established Central Texas Palliative Care Associates (CTPCA). CTPCA provides expert medical direction for management of pain for Hospice Austin clients as well as others in the community living with an advanced illness.
Nurse
The Hospice Austin nurse will work closely with your physician to keep you as physically comfortable as possible. The nurse will make regular visits to help manage symptoms and control pain. The nurse can teach you and your family about medications and treatments and answer any questions you have related to your care. If you have any questions or problems, nurses are available for urgent visits and/or telephone consultations 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
After-Hours Assistance
After hours, the Hospice Austin staff members are available to you 24 hours a day, 7 days a week to answer questions and make visits as needed.
Social Worker
Our social workers provide professional assessment of your needs and match you with the community resources that can assist with your personal situation. They also provide ongoing emotional support and can help with advance directives and funeral planning if desired.
Home Health Aides
Hospice Austin's home health aides work with your nurse and your caregivers to assist with personal care such as bathing, skin and hair care, oral care and bed linen care. Your aide serves as the eyes and ears for your primary nurse and reports directly to your nurse.
Homemakers
Hospice Austin's homemakers are available for light household duties related to your care, such as meal preparation, errands and housekeeping services.
Spiritual Support
Finding a sense of purpose in life and meaning in illness and death is important to many patients and families coping with a serious illness. Spiritual care is available to you and your family to help you address these issues. With compassionate listening and non-judgmental guidance, chaplains may help you cope with any feelings of loneliness, doubt, fear or anxiety that you may experience.
Volunteers
Hospice Austin volunteers receive extensive training in hospice philosophy and procedures, in working as a hospice team member, and in understanding our patients and their families. Volunteer support may include sitting with the patient while the family is away for short periods, providing emotional support and a listening ear to the patient and caregivers, helping with errands, helping the patient complete projects and performing various duties as requested by the patient or family. For more information about Hospice Austin's volunteer program go to the Volunteer page.
Bereavement
Hospice Austin's bereavement services help our families and their caregivers deal with the loss of a loved one and further assist them with complicated grief issues. Stress and anxiety relief are essential elements in every component of the bereavement program. Support services are provided through regular communication between the bereaved and the Hospice Austin bereavement team in the form of written correspondence, telephone calls and personal visits for at least thirteen (13) months after the patient’s death. Hospice Austin also holds quarterly memorial services dedicated to the remembrance of patients who died within the previous months. For more information on the extensive bereavement program open to all in the Central Texas community, go the Bereavement and Grief Support page.
If you have questions or would like to schedule a home visit by a Hospice Austin staff member, please call 512-342-4700 or 1-800-445-3261.
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