Cancer myth: It is a common misconception that one must have a cancer diagnosis to receive hospice care or that most hospice patients have cancer. Many people would be surprised to learn that nationally, non-cancer diagnoses in 2009 represented 60 percent of all hospice admissions. Although cancer makes up the single most common primary diagnosis, non-cancer diagnoses include heart disease, dementia, lung disease, stroke or coma, and kidney disease.

More people choose Hospice: More and more Americans are choosing hospice care to address medical, emotional, and spiritual needs at the end-of-life. According to an annual report released by the National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization (NHPCO), nearly 42 percent of all those who died in this country in 2009 - a record 1.56 million people - were being cared for by a hospice service at the time of death.

Family satisfaction: National performance measures show that family ratings of satisfaction with the quality of hospice care they and their loved ones received remain very high.

Further benefits: Several major studies conducted in the past few years have found that:

• Hospice care may improve survival among some terminally ill patients. Journal of Pain and Symptom Management; March 2007

• Early adoption of palliative care may prolong survival in cancer patients. New England Journal of Medicine; August 2010

• Hospice services save Medicare an average of $2,309 per patient. Social Science & Medicine; October 2007

Visit Hospice of North Idaho's website at www.honi.org or call (208)772-7994 to learn more about hospice care in our community.