Psychosocial and spiritual support is the standard and also a requirement of Medicare conditions of participation for hospices, including bereavement for 13 months following the death - though this is the first place most crappy hospices fall short
I have worked with 4 hospices in two states over 8 years. I have never once seen sufficient and robust mental health services. Social workers are trained in many things, but offering therapy around trauma or existing mental illness without intensive training in delivering clinical mental health counseling is not the same--and I have had social workers themselves makes those statements to me. Spiritual support via chaplains, yes, but also not necessarily the same (that's why they have different labels and roles, after all). The kind of therapy I am talking about is something I've seen more at the palliative care stage if I see it at all.
"This marks not only a growing need in U.S. communities, but a good business opportunity."
As you know from your sister publications there are already plenty of sharks in this tank, along with all of the other specialty tanks like substance use recovery, home health etc with the same dynamics playing out as are happening in hospice
So I guess it makes sense for a hospice to get into the 'good business opportunity' you've outlined if they need to show growth on paper, financial engineering, to satisfy investors etc
But if you ask me, it's a big distraction from a good/excellent hospice's core competency
Also too bereavement support is as wildly variable among hospices as everything else, there are too many crappy and mediocre hospices providing crappy and mediocre psychosocial support 🤷♂️
The fact that mental health counseling is not a standard in hospice is outlandish to me.
Psychosocial and spiritual support is the standard and also a requirement of Medicare conditions of participation for hospices, including bereavement for 13 months following the death - though this is the first place most crappy hospices fall short
I have worked with 4 hospices in two states over 8 years. I have never once seen sufficient and robust mental health services. Social workers are trained in many things, but offering therapy around trauma or existing mental illness without intensive training in delivering clinical mental health counseling is not the same--and I have had social workers themselves makes those statements to me. Spiritual support via chaplains, yes, but also not necessarily the same (that's why they have different labels and roles, after all). The kind of therapy I am talking about is something I've seen more at the palliative care stage if I see it at all.
"This marks not only a growing need in U.S. communities, but a good business opportunity."
As you know from your sister publications there are already plenty of sharks in this tank, along with all of the other specialty tanks like substance use recovery, home health etc with the same dynamics playing out as are happening in hospice
So I guess it makes sense for a hospice to get into the 'good business opportunity' you've outlined if they need to show growth on paper, financial engineering, to satisfy investors etc
But if you ask me, it's a big distraction from a good/excellent hospice's core competency
Also too bereavement support is as wildly variable among hospices as everything else, there are too many crappy and mediocre hospices providing crappy and mediocre psychosocial support 🤷♂️