When is the right time to call hospice?
Important Takeaways
- Families don’t need to wait until the final days to reach out for hospice care.
- Early hospice care offers more time for comfort, support, and peace of mind.
- Anyone—patients, family, or friends—can start the conversation. No referral needed.
- Heartlinks walks beside families from the first difficult decisions to the final moments—offering care, comfort, and understanding every step of the way.
Understanding When Hospice Care Begins
Many believe that hospice is only for the very end of life. In reality, calling hospice early allows families to experience a fuller kind of care—one centered on comfort, dignity, and meaningful connection.
More time with loved ones.
More time for spiritual care.
More time for conversation, reflection, and rest.
More time to say goodbye in your own way.
More time to simply be.
When families reach out to Heartlinks early, they open the door to a team that listens, guides, and surrounds them with care—helping patients and caregivers alike find peace and purpose in each moment.
Calling hospice early isn’t about giving up—it’s about giving yourself more time for what matters most.
Signs it Might Be Time to Call Hospice
You don’t have to wait for a crisis to ask about hospice. It may be the right time if any of the following sound familiar:
- Treatments are no longer working or you’ve decided to stop them.
- Frequent hospital visits or medical emergencies happen close together.
- Noticeable decline in health, such as weight loss, confusion, or difficulty with daily tasks.
- Pain or symptoms are harder to manage, even with medication.
- A doctor estimates six months or less to live if the illness follows its natural course.
Did you know?
Anyone can call Heartlinks. Whether you’re a patient, family member, or friend, you don’t need a doctor’s referral to start the conversation. And when questions or worries surface—day or night—Heartlinks is just a phone call away at 509-837-1676.
The Difference Between Palliative and Hospice Care
It’s common to confuse palliative care and hospice care. While both focus on comfort and quality of life, they serve different purposes:
- Palliative care can begin at any stage of illness and can be provided alongside treatments. It is based on your needs, not prognosis.
- Hospice care is a specific type of end-of-life care, typically introduced when curative treatment is no longer pursued and life expectancy is six months or less.
Both are about living fully, even in the face of serious illness. Heartlinks provides both types of care—and sometimes, patients receive the benefits of both at the same time.
Concurrent palliative and hospice care is available to pediatric patients. When they qualify, they receive the support of both programs simultaneously, ensuring comfort and connection at every stage of care.
The Benefits of Calling Hospice Early
Choosing hospice early isn’t about rushing toward the end. It’s about slowing down enough to make the most of what’s ahead.
Families who call early often describe a sense of calm that comes from knowing they’re not alone. With Heartlinks, help is already in place—more time for visits from our care team, for moments of rest, and for guidance when things get hard. And just as importantly, there’s time for conversations that might otherwise never happen.
When those conversations happen early—about values, comfort, and what “quality of life” truly means to you—they take place with clarity instead of urgency. Families can talk about how care should look, where it should happen, and who should be there. Those decisions become an exercise of love, not stress.
Early planning also means a person’s wishes can guide the journey, rather than the circumstances. It allows care teams to honor what matters most to the dying person and to the people who love them.
Talking about these things while there’s still room to breathe helps you ensure that every step, right up to the end, reflects a shared sense of peace and purpose.
Planning for what matters most
If you’re beginning those conversations, Heartlinks can provide a helpful resource called Five Wishes—a simple, compassionate guide for communicating your personal, medical, and spiritual preferences.
Get your copy here
How Hospice Fits into the Bigger Picture of End-of-Life Care
End-of-life care includes more than just hospice—it’s a broader journey that may involve:
- Palliative care for symptom management
- Advance directives and estate planning
- Emotional, spiritual, and social support for families
Hospice is one piece of this continuum, offering comfort and peace during one of life’s most meaningful stages. At Heartlinks, caring for the whole person means supporting families through every stage—long before hospice is needed and long after. Our team is here to answer questions, offer guidance, and simply listen when you need it most.
Your end-of-life journey can begin decades before it’s needed—through honest conversations, planning, and love.
Start the Conversation Today
It’s never too early to ask questions or explore whether hospice care is right for you or a loved one. Reaching out to Heartlinks doesn’t mean giving up—it means choosing comfort, dignity, and connection at a time when they matter most. Our team is here—day and night—to walk alongside families through life’s hardest seasons.
When you sit beside someone you love and hope for comfort, dignity, and peace, even the smallest act of compassion can feel like a lifeline. Heartlinks exists to be that lifeline.
Contact Heartlinks to talk with our team. We’re here with 24/7 support to help you understand your options, at your own pace, in your own way.
