Guides for families.
Short, practical pieces on the decisions families actually face. If you need an answer right now, the phone is faster.
Guide 01
Talking to a parent about hospice
How to open the conversation, and what to do when they shut it down.
The Conversation Project, an initiative of the Institute for Healthcare Improvement. Free to print, in English, Spanish, Chinese and Portuguese, with a separate guide for dementia caregivers.
Guide 02
Hospice and palliative care, in plain English
The two get confused constantly. One runs alongside treatment aimed at a cure. The other begins when the goal of treatment changes from cure to comfort. Here is the difference in plain words.
National Institute on Aging, part of the National Institutes of Health. Last reviewed May 2021.
Guide 03
What Medicare covers: a checklist
Medications, equipment, visits, respite. What is included, what is not, and what to ask before you sign.
Medicare.gov. The booklet sets out the small copays that can apply, and what room and board still costs if your loved one lives in a facility.
Guide 04
The first 48 hours
What arrives, who comes, and what you will be asked to decide in the two days after a hospice admission.
Written by our team. Six steps, from the first phone call through to the year afterwards.
Guide 05
Signs it may be time, by condition
What decline tends to look like in heart disease, dementia, COPD, and cancer, written for families rather than clinicians.
Our own guidelines cover nine conditions. The Alzheimer’s Association page goes further on dementia, and lists five questions to ask any hospice provider.
Arizona forms, free and official
The Arizona Attorney General publishes the state health care power of attorney, living will, DNR and POLST forms at no cost, in English and Spanish. You do not need a lawyer, and you do not need us, to fill them in.
Reading up at midnight?
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