Exploring the Journey of Hospice

A person might be offered hospice care if they have a terminal illness, with a physician and hospice team certifying the patient has an estimated life expectancy of six months or less. Choosing hospice allows the patient and loved ones to focus on comfort care and quality of life, and forgo treatments that can be overly burdensome.

Hospice provides pain and symptom management, emotional, spiritual, and psychosocial support wherever someone calls home. For patients and families, this includes scheduled home visits by nurses, aides, social workers, chaplains, volunteers, and 24/7 on-call nurse availability for emergencies. The hospice team can help with personal care, medications, supplying medical equipment, medical supplies, and grief and bereavement support for families.

Medications that provide comfort or improve quality of life are usually continued. Medications that are solely intended to cure the disease, rather than support comfort or quality of life, are usually discontinued.

Hospice care is provided wherever the person calls home. This can include the patient’s home, assisted living or skilled nursing facilities. The service area for Emmaus is 25+ miles from our administrative offices in Greenwood Village, providing home hospice care throughout most of the Denver and surrounding metro areas.

Hospice is designed for the last months of life, not just the final days. Early enrollment often leads to better quality of life, better symptom control, more time for meaningful moments with loved ones, and more time to get to know and build trust and relationships with the hospice team.

Yes. The hospice team can partner with your loved one’s medical care team and encourages the involvement of the patient’s preferred faith community.

Many people struggle with the idea that signing on to hospice means letting go of hope. In reality, hospice is about shifting the focus from curing illness to maximizing comfort, dignity, and quality of life. It’s about reframing hope—from hoping for a cure to hoping for a peaceful, comfortable, and dignified end-of-life experience. The hospice team is there not only to care for the patient, but also to support families emotionally and help them work through the difficult feelings that can come with this transition. For many, hospice offers space for deeper connection, peace, and finding meaning in the time that remains.

Families have a deeply impactful role in the care provided. Hospice seeks to support the patient and family on this journey, offering education and guidance in caring for their loved one. This includes respite care options, resources for increasing care needs, emotional and spiritual support, and bereavement support.

Hospice services can continue as long as the patient still meets hospice criteria as determined by the medical director. It is possible that a patient can improve or “graduate” from hospice services if their health improves. The hospice team is committed to being transparent and will keep you and your loved one updated on their condition regularly.

Hospice care is covered by Medicare (Part A), Medicare Advantage (Part C), Medicaid, and most private insurance plans.

Yes. Patients can end hospice care at any time if they decide to pursue curative treatment again or for any other reason. Patients can also return to hospice later if eligible.

Absolutely. Hospice care is available to people of all faiths, beliefs, and backgrounds. Being Christ-centered and rooted in Catholic values and teachings form the foundation of our care. We are very respectful of every individual’s preference, meeting the patient where they are at this very precious time of life.

Providing home hospice care centered in Jesus Christ allows Emmaus Catholic Hospice to humbly serve patients and families of all faiths and backgrounds. Our hospice care focuses equally on the entire person — body, mind, and soul.

We embrace God’s perfect timing as we serve and support each person and their loved ones through their unique life journey over a period of days, weeks, or months until natural death, protecting the dignity and inherent beauty of every human life at this most sacred time.