Don’t give up. Give hope.

When Chosen Early, Hospice & Palliative Care Give Hope & Quality of Life

Hospice and palliative care are not about giving up. Each is about using specialized medical care and treatments to enhance quality of life and help you meet your goals. Both give patients hope that how they feel each day matters and that they can still do things that matter to them. Both are also focused on giving caregivers what they need to make care at home manageable.

Palliative Care and Hospice Care

Palliative care is for those who may still be undergoing curative treatments. Hospice care is for those not currently receiving curative or aggressive treatment but who want specialized symptom management and increased quality of life.

Learn more below, or contact us by phone or email to ask a question about our programs. We can listen, help you determine if hospice or palliative care may be helpful, and guide you to other resources as needed.

Marlene and her family chose hospice care, because being at home and quality of life were important to them. Her home care team was honored to work with Marlene on symptom management, so she could keep doing what mattered to her, like playing the carillon. Read more

How Hospice & Palliative Care Enhance Quality of Life

  • Treatments and Interventions to Manage Pain and Symptoms
  • Maximizing Time Spent at Home (versus hospital or other facilities)
  • Personalized Care Plan Based on Medical, Physical, Social, & Spiritual Needs
  • Support and Education for Caregivers
  • Coordination of Care with Primary Physician and Specialists
  • Regular Home Care Visits by Your Team

Studies Show Positive Outcomes When Hospice & Palliative Care Are Involved Early

  • Prolonged Survival – Journal of Pain & Symptom Management, 2007 and New England Journal of Medicine, 2010
  • Higher Quality of Life as Reported by Patients – New England Journal of Medicine, 2010
  • Far Less Likely to be Hospitalized – Journal of Palliative Medicine, 2012
  • Better Symptom Management – New England Journal of Medicine, 2010
  • Fewer Instances of Severe Depression for Surviving Spouses – JAMA, 2015

How Do I Know if Hospice or Palliative Care Is Right for My Situation?

How Do I Know if Hospice or Palliative Care Is Right for My Situation?

While it takes a careful review of a patient’s medical records to know for sure, there are some common signs. One or more of these can be an indicator that home care with either hospice or palliative can be helpful.

  • Medical care is increasingly complex.
  • May have one disease that’s harder to manage, one primary disease with underlying conditions, or many conditions that, together, have led to declining health over time.
  • May have been hospitalized more than once in the past year.
  • Have used or been tempted to use the emergency room, especially when issues arise after the doctor’s office is closed.
  • Increasingly difficult to get to appointments with physicians, and it takes time to recover from the effort of going.
  • Curative or aggressive treatments are less helpful than before or may have been discontinued.
  • Strong desire to avoid hospitalization and remain at home.
  • Strong desire to feel as well as possible, to be able to make the most of each day, or to have more good days than bad days.
  • Caregiving is getting more difficult to handle alone or is taking a bigger toll.
  • Can benefit from connection to resources and support for all involved.
  • Undergoing curative treatments, but wants to maintain good quality of life with symptom management throughout those treatments (palliative only).
  • Not undergoing curative or aggressive treatments, but hopes for months of living with quality of life and specialized symptom management at home.

We Serve Central and Eastern Kentucky

Estill, Jackson, Lee, Madison, Owsley, and Rockcastle Counties

Hospice Care Plus will come to you, wherever you are, as long as you are a resident of one of these six Kentucky counties. Your home downtown, a farm in a rural community, the hospital, or an extended care facility - we're there for you wherever you are.

Where is Hospice Care Plus Located?

Wherever you call home, we come to you.

Hospice Care Plus & Compassionate Care Center is located in Richmond, but our Home Hospice and Palliative Care programs are dedicated to allowing our patients to be where they want to be, with the people they care about most.

For most, that means staying home. Wherever you call home - an assisted living community, nursing home, subdivision, or family farm - we come to you.

News & Events

The River City Players Community Theater group accepts the first-place prize in the table-decorating contest.

Hee Haw Hoedown a Huge Success!

The Hee Haw Hoedown, held at the Estill County Fair Barn, had a record-setting night on Aug. 13. The event raises funds for Hospice Care Plus and is organized by a local committee. This is the fourteenth year the committee has hosted the fundraiser, which features a different theme each year. Committee member Erin Leach…

David Tapley with new cargo van.

Grants Fund New Cargo Van

With the help of matching grants totaling $30,000 from the Honorable Order of Kentucky Colonels (HOKC) and the E.O. Robinson Mountain Fund, Hospice Care Plus added a gently used cargo van to its medical equipment program. The van is used to deliver equipment to the homes of hospice patients and families in all counties served…

Lauren VanWinkle and Mae Suramek at the launch of the Noodle Nirvana non-profit partnership with Hospice Care Plus in 2019. The partnership ended in a donation of $34,000 for the non-profit organization.

Noodle Nirvana Donates $34,000

Noodle Nirvana, Berea’s fast-casual restaurant featuring homemade, Thai-inspired noodle bowls, has announced it raised $34,000 for Hospice Care Plus. “Noodle Nirvana and its owners, staff, and customers are remarkable for what they have done for non-profits in our community. We are grateful, inspired, and ready to put the donation to work to care for patients and…

WLCD featured image

World Lung Cancer Day, Aug. 1

According to the American Lung Association, lung cancer is the number one cancer killer in the United States.  Kentucky has the highest occurrence of new cases in the country.  Even though Kentucky ranks second in the nation in screening people at high risk for lung cancer, it still has the highest death rate.  Why? Dr.…