(NewsNation) — Sunday will mark one year since America’s longest-living president, 99-year-old Jimmy Carter, entered hospice care to spend his remaining time at home with his family.
The 39th U.S. president elected to receive hospice care Feb. 18, 2023, according to a statement The Carter Center issued that day.
The announcement came after a series of shorter hospital stays, although no illness was disclosed at the time. Carter previously received treatment for liver cancer and melanoma that spread to his brain.
On Dec. 5, 2015, just months after he announced he had cancer, Carter revealed that his brain scans showed he was cancer-free.
Carter and his late wife, Rosalynn, spent time together being cared for at home before she died on Nov. 19, 2023, at 96 years old.
How long do people typically survive in hospice care?
Hospice care is available to people with a life expectancy of six months or less.
It’s a transition that people make once a cure is no longer an option and their focus instead shifts toward managing their symptoms and maintaining quality of life, according to the Hospice Foundation of America.
Patients who qualify, on average, die within three to six weeks from the start of hospice care, according to a study published in the American Academy of Family Physicians (AAFP).
That said, hospice care can minimally increase life expectancy for patients with terminal lung, pancreatic, or metastatic melanoma, according to a separate 2018 study. Receiving at least one day of hospice care may increase life expectancy by as many as three months.
Patients who received hospice care for four or more days had 3 1/3 months longer median survival than those who received three days or less, the study noted.
There’s no penalty if the patient outlives the prerequisite six-month-or-less life expectancy. Depending on their medical eligibility, they can be recertified for hospice care, according to the Hospice Foundation of America.
How can hospice care help?
Hospice professionals are trained to address patients’ physical, psychosocial and spiritual needs.
That may include grief and spiritual counseling as well as medication to help patients feel comfortable and improve their quality of life, according to the Cleveland Clinic.
Hospice care can offer support to family members and loved ones who have taken on the role of caregiver. Hospice team members can develop care plans, answer questions about nutrition and medication and help patients with personal hygiene, temporarily alleviating some of those duties from family.
