Hospice & Palliative Care

At the Vilas Home, hospice and palliative care services are available to residents planning for end of life care as long as we are able to meet the individual’s needs. We know that end of life planning is an uncertain endeavor and a difficult process to begin.

Care for Serious Illness and End of Life Planning

As many families approach this stage, a primary concern is keeping their loved one as comfortable as possible. We understand that your loved one considers the Vilas Home their home and they likely want to enter the final stage of life in this familiar environment, surrounded by friendly and familiar faces.

Although we cannot guarantee that a resident can remain at the Vilas Home for end-of-life care, we do our best to keep residents with us as long as possible under our enhanced assisted living license and in conjunction with our hospice and palliative care partners.

Hospice Care

When a resident is declining and his or her primary care physician recommends hospice care services, the Vilas Home collaborates with High Peaks Hospice to develop and implement an end-of-life care plan.
Hospice services are usually deemed appropriate for residents who are entering their final six months of life and may have serious illness care needs or are requiring specialized comfort care services.
Hospice Care is a compassionate care approach that enables residents to be comfortable and free of pain in their final days.

Palliative Care

Palliative Care focuses on providing residents relief from pain and other symptoms of a serious illness.
Palliative Care can be given at any time during the course of an illness.
Palliative Care is not intended for end of life, rather it is to improve the quality of life for the residents and their families and can be recommended along with medical intervention and treatment.

24-Hour Care

We work together with hospice staff to follow the established care plan, delivering well-rounded compassionate care. We are also able to partner with local individuals and organizations to provide spiritual support and/or any grief support or bereavement services that may be needed for the family.

Services that are typically provided by Hospice:

Case Manager/Nurse that visits the resident regularly
An on-call nurse that is available 24 hours a day
Medications to alleviate pain, nausea, shortness of breath, and loss of appetite
Medical equipment is provided, such as a hospital bed and oxygen
When appropriate, pastoral or spiritual support; and bereavement counseling for family and caregivers

Palliative Care Considerations

End of life planning is important and we understand that each individual has preferences as to what they want their journey to look like. We will do our best to accommodate their wishes but please keep in mind that residents who experience unmanageable pain due to a terminal illness or have medical complications beyond what the Vilas Home can handle, will likely need to transfer to a hospital.

Hospice Considerations

At the Vilas Home, our skilled and compassionate care team is available to provide 24-hour care along with a variety of nursing services to ensure that residents are well cared for and their needs are met when they are approaching their final chapter.

Nursing Assessments

As an enhanced assisted living facility, the Vilas Home is able to provide a variety of nursing services under our enhanced license. This allows us to care for residents who require assistance with medical equipment management, transfer and ambulation assistance, insulin management and diabetic care needs, medication administration, total feeding assistance, wound care and skilled observations.

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Transfer Assistance

Under our enhanced assisted living license, the Vilas Home's licensed staff can provide transfer and ambulation assistance for residents requiring chronic 1 and 2-person assistance.

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Incontinence Management

Incontinence is a common occurrence for many aging adults. In many cases, a structured day that includes regular cueing and reminders is enough to help a resident maintain or regain continence and lessen the severity of episodes of incontinence.

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Equipment Management

For residents dependent on medical equipment, our team of licensed staff is able assist with medical equipment management including oxygen, catheters, colostomies, nebulizer treatments, and c-pap machines.

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Insulin Assistance

Living with diabetes can be complicated, especially for aging individuals. In our assisted living setting, we are able to offer diabetic care and management as an enhanced care service. This includes glucose monitoring and insulin administration.

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