Home Health & Hospice Week

Use this list to create a comprehensive approach. If you're providing hospice services, then you must also offer bereavement services. Unfortunately, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services doesn't give you much guidance as to what that means -- or how to afford it. But before you throw your hands up at yet another requirement, consider the benefits that comprehensive hospice-provided bereavement care can provide to the grieving, says Theo Munson, manager of bereavement services for Lifetime Care/Hospice in Rochester, N.Y. Munson suggests you round out your care program with these best practices: -- Follow-up when professional home visitors predict that the primary caregiver will have a challenging bereavement course. -- Check in with family members because you can't always predict how grief will unfold. -- Convey the message that the patient, family, and staff went through a major event together and that the loss matters to the provider. -- Remind family members that they [...]