Transitions & Continuing Care
Hospice & Palliative Care
What hospice and palliative care actually provide, when each is appropriate, and how comfort-focused care can be delivered wherever your loved one lives.
Professional Introduction
Understanding Hospice
Hospice is one of the most misunderstood benefits in American healthcare. It is not giving up, and it does not require a hospital. It is a Medicare-covered team — nurse, aide, social worker, chaplain, equipment, and medication related to the terminal diagnosis — brought to wherever the person lives.
Palliative care is different: comfort-focused support that can run alongside curative treatment, at any stage of a serious illness. Many families would benefit from palliative care years before hospice is appropriate.
Families who elect hospice earlier consistently report better symptom control, fewer emergency room visits, and more meaningful time. This category explains eligibility, what the benefit includes, and how to advocate for quality within it.
Featured Resources
Published guides in this hub
Full-length educational guides, written and clinically reviewed by our care navigators.
Understanding Hospice Care
Eligibility, coverage, the care team, and common misconceptions.
Read the guide8 min readUnderstanding Palliative Care
Comfort-focused support alongside ongoing treatment.
Read the guide7 min readHome Health vs. Hospice
Which service fits the situation in front of you.
Read the guide7 min readIn Development
Coming to this hub
These guides are in research and clinical review. Ask us about any of them today — a navigator will walk you through it personally.
Choosing a Hospice Agency in Arizona
In progressThe quality measures and staffing questions that separate agencies.
Video Library
Watch and learn
Short, plain-language explanations recorded by our care navigators. Filming in progress.
What Hospice Really Means
8 minDispelling the myths that cause families to wait too long.
Coming soon
Downloadable Guides
Take it with you
Printable checklists and worksheets built from the questions families ask us most. Request an early copy any time.
Hospice Conversation Guide
PDF guideHow to raise hospice with a parent, a sibling, or a physician.
Request this guide
Family Questions
Hospice: common questions
Does electing hospice mean stopping all treatment?
It means shifting the goal from cure to comfort for the terminal diagnosis. Treatment for unrelated conditions can continue, and a person can revoke hospice at any time.
Can hospice come to assisted living or a care home?
Yes. Hospice is a service, not a place, and it routinely serves residents in assisted living, memory care, residential care homes, and private homes.
Related Topics
Continue learning
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Home Health
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Family FAQs
ExploreFamily Support
Caregivers
ExploreTalk through hospice with a care navigator
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