Hospice Patients
Name
Institutional Affiliation
Hospice Patients
Hospice services offer end of life care to terminal patients with six months prognosis. In public health nursing, the approach to hospice involves developing an aggregate plan to care for the needs of hospice patients. The flowing essay identifies and discusses homeless shelters, child care centers, and senior centers as the aggregates of interest to as well as the rationale for their selections.
Homeless shelters provide temporary residence for homeless people as well as their families. I selected this target population because hundreds of homeless shelters die every year from untreated medical conditions, which means that they also have limited access to hospice care. Individuals experiencing homelessness encounter incurable somatic diseases in combination with psychological and psychiatric problems and may need hospice care. Thus, an aggregate plan for hospice services for the homeless can enable them to die with dignity.
Child centers care for vulnerable children and often care group children according to age while addressing their needs. The rationale for selecting this target population is because of the low utilization rates of pediatric hospice in the community. In the U.S, there are about 50,000 pediatric deaths each year, many of these due to severe conditions. However, only 10% of these utilize hospice services because the decision to do so is often complicated by the center’s non-acceptance of the forthcoming death. With hospice services, children can spend their remaining months surrounded by friends, pets, and particular belongings such as toys
Senior centers shelter the senior citizens and connect them to vital services to enable them to live independent lives. I selected senior centers because they are the most used community service in the U.S and that more seniors are dying with hospice services these days than ever before. Due to the increase in hospice in the seniors, there is a need for aggregate plans to enable them to benefit from symptom control and psychological support.