About Caris Home Health Care

Caris Health Care is a home hospice service that has numerous locations throughout the Southern United States. Hospice care is a type of support system offered to patients who have a life-limiting illness. Caregivers are trained to provide medical, emotional and spiritual support to their patients.

History

• Caris Health Care serves several locations in Tennessee and South Carolina. They have both paid staff as well as volunteers who help provide hospice services to terminally ill patients. Their goal for years has been to make the patient's final days as comfortable as possible.

Types

• Caris Health Care provides different types of home hospice services. Hospice caregivers will work with the patient's physician to make sure that she is taken care of physically and mentally. Caris can also provide home nursing visits to help a patient manage her pain. Caris can also provide home medical equipment and supplies needed for hospice care. Caris has a team of social workers who also can help both the patient and family members through the difficult time.

Function

• The purpose of home hospice care through Caris is to manage a patient's symptoms while keeping her comfortable. Workers will also address the patient's fears about dying and give her spiritual guidance. If the patient has medications, they will administer them and help with any special therapies ordered by the patient's physician. Caris staff will also provide support to family members caring for an ill patient. Bereavement counseling services are offered to family members as well.

Considerations

• A person can choose to end hospice care at any time, especially if the illness seems to enter remission. Caris will not provide services to speed up or slow down the dying process. It also will provide counseling to all hospice patients regardless of race or religion. Before you consider hospice, though, you need to discuss the issue with the patient's doctor to make sure that this is an appropriate choice.

Benefits

• Hospice allows a patient to live out their last days at home while still receiving the necessary medical care. The purpose is more to make the patient comfortable more than attempting to extend their life. Also, many insurance companies will pay for home hospice services. Caris accepts many major insurance carriers, including Medicare, United Healthcare, Blue Cross/Blue Shield, Cigna and Tricare.