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.
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?
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

Sign-Up for Caregiver Connection
Caregiver Connection, a new resource for family caregivers, hosts a meeting once a month. The meetings are designed to give caregivers a chance to network and share tips, challenges, resources, and more. Caregiver Connection is hosted and sponsored by Hospice Care Plus. Enter your information on our online form if you wish to receive registration…

New Volunteer Training July 24
Hospice Care Plus is hosting a training for new volunteers on Saturday, July 24. Though originally the plan was to hold this as an in-person training, we have chosen to meet via Zoom due to the recent escalation of COVID-19 cases locally. The training is for individuals who would like to help provide care and…

Grief & Bereavement in the Age of COVID-19
The Kentucky Hospice Network (KHN) is proud to host this virtual inservice on Thursday, May 17, from 9 a.m. to 10:30 a.m. EST. Registration is available online. Joelle Osterhaus, LCSW, LICSW, ACHP-SW, and Karen Monts will lead an important and timely discussion on how the COVID-19 pandemic affects grief and bereavement and how organizations can…

National Healthcare Decisions Day
National Healthcare Decisions Day (NHDD) is April 16. This is the thirteenth year the country has observed NHDD, but the pandemic has made it more relevant than ever. Hospice Care Plus is honoring the day by offering free resources to help individuals make and document their healthcare decisions. Lisa Knicely, the Director of Outreach Programs…