Park City resident Doreen Herbert has been caring for her 95-year-old stepfather, Stanley Scott, for just more than three weeks, but she hasn’t been doing it alone. Herbert relies on hospice care for logistical issues like checking his vitals or helping him bathe. But hospice care also provides what she called emotional support for both Scott and herself.

“When I thought of hospice care before I experienced it, I thought of somebody coming in and just helping with pain. Dying was close by,” Herbert said. “I didn’t know all the people who were a part of hospice care and what it would give to my family.”

November is National Hospice and Palliative Care Month and according to the National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization of the 2.5 million deaths in the United States every year, roughly 960,000 are with hospice services. Even with so many using hospice services, the branch manager of Park City’s Applegate Homecare and Hospice Natalie Yellis-Kraus said the topic of hospice care can still be taboo.

For Herbert, that idea couldn’t be farther from the truth. Before her stepfather ever came to live with her, she experienced hospice care with the death of her husband.

“When he was in the hospital, he was on so many drugs that he didn’t know where he was or who he was,” Herbert said. “He couldn’t carry on a conversation with us. When we finally got him home, he sat in his wheelchair and looked out our window and said ‘home.’ That’s when we knew we made the right decision.”

Yellis said Herbert’s experience is the norm.

“Hospice allows a dignified passing,” Yellis said. “Everyone will get there one day, and there’s a way to do it and a better way to do it. That’s what hospice gives.”

Yellis said hospice is starting to become something families talk about, but that she hopes to see it become more of an option.

Park City Medical Center nurse and case manager Claire Kranstover said she believes hospice serves a very important piece to the healthcare puzzle even if the goal isn’t healing.

“Usually when someone signs up for hospice, they know they have a terminal medical condition and they’ve acknowledged it,” she said. “Hospice is a whole different discipline than trying to get someone better.”

“It’s really a philosophy of care,” she added. “If you want to die peacefully in your home, it can be a great comfort to know you can. We respect our patients’ choices.”

Peace is the bottom line for Yellis, who said hospice is about support as much as comfort. Hospice service can vary far more than people expect she said, with services like at-home massages, physical therapy to maintain mobility and even music therapy.

“Humanity deserves this service,” Yellis said.

For more information about hospice care in Utah and a list of providers in your area visit http://www.utahhospice.org/ or call (801)582-2245.