Warren Whitener, 90, has been receiving hospice care for 10 months and lives in an adult family home in Kenmore.

“Father seems to be — much to our surprise — a hospice patient who has come early and stayed late, which is fantastic,” said Warren’s daughter Cheryl Whitener of Redmond. “That’s what everyone strives for and things have really worked beautifully for him.”

November is National Home Care and Hospice Month, a time to raise awareness about the care that hospice and home care provide to patients and families coping with serious and life-limiting illness. Although patients are at the end of their lives, hospice helps the patient and family focus on living.

Many people believe that individuals receive hospice care only during the last few days of their lives. But that’s not true. Individuals can get hospice care if their doctor believes they only have six months to live. But doctors can only guess. With good hospice care, many people — like Warren — actually outlive the six-month prognosis and some even improve so much that they go off of hospice care.

A study published in August in the New England Journal of Medicine found that terminal cancer patients who began receiving hospice care immediately upon diagnosis not only were happier, more mobile and in less pain as the end neared, but also lived nearly three months longer than those who didn’t receive such care. Additionally, research from the National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization has found that families report a better quality of life for a loved one who received hospice care. Other research demonstrates that hospice saves Medicare money.

“There’s a misconception out in the world for some,” Cheryl said. “The minute you go on hospice care, people will say, ‘I’m so sorry.’ I say, ‘No, no he’s thriving. He’s doing as well as we could possibly expect.’”

Warren’s doctors first recommended that the former salesman and World War II veteran enter Providence Hospice of Seattle’s “Transitions” program about a year ago. Transitions is a non-medical, pre-hospice program for people who have a serious illness with a prognosis of 12 months or less.

Warren suffers from heart and circulatory problems, has had several strokes and has difficulty swallowing. He was living with his daughter, but because of his multiple illnesses was in and out of the hospital often. He went to a nursing home for rehabilitation and now lives in the adult family home. Eventually doctors suggested he get hospice care.

Many Americans mistakenly think that hospice is a place you go when there’s nothing left to be done to treat an illness. That couldn’t be farther from the truth. Hospice care occurs where the patient lives. The hospice care team provides expert medical care, answers questions, offers advice on what to expect, helps families with the care giving duties and provides emotional and spiritual support.

Cheryl said her father has thrived under hospice care. “He just seems so comfortable and content. We tried all sorts of things in these last few years to manage his care and this was clearly the best solution. I just feel he’s getting excellent care without having to go back into the hospital. He doesn’t want to have to do that again. It feels like he’s being supported, but nobody’s getting in the way of the natural course of life.”

Cheryl believes hospice care has allowed her family and her father to enjoy his life for a longer time. “It’s been absolutely extraordinary for my family. I don’t know that my father would be around today without hospice,” she said.

With the help of hospice, patients and families can focus on what’s most important — enjoying life together and living as fully as possible.

If you or a loved one is facing a serious or life-limiting illness, the time to find out more about hospice is now.

For more information, contact Providence Hospice of Seattle at www.providence.org/hospiceofseattle or (206) 320-4000.