There is nothing like staying at home for real comfort. ~Jane Austen (1775-1817)
Home is the place most people with serious or life-limiting illnesses want to stay living in, but it may cause a big impact on the caregivers and their families. Our palliative home care team is here to support those patients and their families to make sure they do not face the illness alone at home.
Our goal
To ease patients’ physical, psychological- existential distress, help them to be cared for at home until the end of life, and support their families both during a person’s illness and after their death.
Who can receive?
People diagnosed with terminal stage of cancer, dementia, neurodegenerative diseases, heart disease, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, Cystic fibrosis, severe fibrotic lung disease, chronic liver disease, liver cirrhosis or renal failure; or frail elderly patients are eligible to access palliative care services.
Our palliative home care service is here to provide palliative care in people’s home and specific for people in Taichung City area. People who have palliative home care are people who need palliative care; have no needs for intensive hospital treatments; have difficulties to visit our outpatient department; and want to be treated at home.
Our services
The palliative care team consists of doctors, nurses, social workers and volunteers. The services include:
- Assessing patients’ physical, psychological-existential needs and providing relevant treatment.
- Providing emotional support and practical advice to patients and their families.
- Prescribing and administering drugs.
- Providing and teaching basic caring skills where needed, e.g. wound care; urinary catheters care and tracheotomy tube care.
- Art psychotherapy and psychological consultation, chaplains services and volunteer service are also available at home, if needed.
- Ongoing home visits will be arranged as appropriate.
- Providing and teaching management of the last days of life and a preparation for death.
- Helping patients and families to adjust to their situation.
- Bereavement care and support.
- Referral to other services, if needed.
What does it cost?
The palliative home care service is covered by National Health Insurance apart from the travel fee for palliative care team. The cost of travel is based on taxi fares from the hospital to your home and return.
How to access?
You can make an appointment with one of our palliative care consultants in the outpatient department, or you can ask your doctor to make the referral. If you have any queries and would like to have an opportunity to discuss any related issues, you can give us a call and discuss your concerns with our palliative home care nurses.
Contact us
During Office hours, you can call a palliative home care nurse. TEL: 04-23592525, ext. 6411 or 6412 or 6414
During out-of-work hours, you can contact the inpatient palliative care unit to leave your messages.
Please dial: TEL: 04-23592525, ext. 8116 or 8117.
For urgent medical problems overnight or at the weekend, please contact the inpatient palliative care unit. They will give you appropriate instructions or direct you to other services.