(NewsNation) — Sunday marks one year since America’s longest-living president, 99-year-old Jimmy Carter, entered hospice care to spend his remaining time at home with his family.
The 39th U.S. president elected to receive hospice care on Feb. 18, 2023, according to a statement The Carter Center issued that day.The announcement came after a series of shorter hospital stays, although no illness was disclosed at the time. Carter previously received treatment for liver cancer and melanoma that spread to his brain.
On Dec. 5, 2015, just months after he announced he had cancer, Carter
revealed that his brain scans showed he was cancer-free.
Carter and his late wife, Rosalynn, spent time together being cared for at
home before she died on Nov. 19, 2023, at 96 years old.
How long do people typically survive in hospice care?
Hospice care is available to people with a life expectancy of six months
or less.
It’s a transition that people make once a cure is no longer an option and
their focus instead shifts toward managing their symptoms and maintaining
quality of life, according to the Hospice Foundation of America.
Patients who qualify, on average, die within three to six weeks from the
start of hospice care, according to a study published in the American
Academy of Family Physicians (AAFP).
That said, hospice care can minimally increase life expectancy for
patients with terminal lung, pancreatic or metastatic melanoma,
according to a separate 2018 study. Receiving at least one day of hospice
care may increase life expectancy by as many as three months.
Patients who received hospice care for four or more days had 3 1/3 months
longer median survival than those who received three days or less, the
study noted.
There’s no penalty if the patient outlives the prerequisite
six-month-or-less life expectancy. Depending on their medical eligibility,
they can be recertified for hospice care, according to the Hospice
Foundation of America.
How can hospice care help?
Hospice professionals are trained to address patients’ physical,
psychosocial and spiritual needs.
That may include grief and spiritual counseling as well as medication to
help patients feel comfortable and improve their quality of life,
according to the Cleveland Clinic.
Hospice care can offer support to family members and loved ones who have
taken on the role of caregiver. Hospice team members can develop care
plans, answer questions about nutrition and medication and help patients
with personal hygiene, temporarily alleviating some of those duties from
family.
