Hospice Compounding

Hospice care has become an important part of helping patients at the end of their lives. The purpose of hospice is to permit patients to remain pain-free and comfortable, and to provide relief to family members or caregivers who have been responsible for patient care. It is common for terminally ill patients to be at home, and hospice care can bring specific patient care to them.

A common problem for hospice patients is commercial drug therapies may no longer work to relieve their pain. Or, due to their health complications, they may be unable to swallow pills or take multiple medications at one time. Regardless of the reasons, hospice compounding can create customized medications in a variety of forms to relieve their pain and other medical issues.

Compounding can provide assistance in conjunction with a physician or hospice specialist to treat a variety of conditions, including:

• Pain
• Nausea
• Vomiting
• Bedsores
• Constipation
• Anxiety or Depression

The conditions vary with each patient, which is why compounding is so important. Standard medications may not work with a specific patient, or the dosages may be wrong. Minimizing pain in hospice patients can be a fine line due to their health complications or other factors. Our compounding pharmacist takes all these factors into account, and will create compounded drug therapies that can maximize the benefit to the patient. If the patient’s condition changes, the compounded drugs can be quickly adjusted to help the patient.

It’s important for patients and their caregivers to understand that compounding can provide drug therapies in a wide variety of forms. Pills, capsules, creams, lotions, gels, even flavored lozenges are all possible with pharmaceutical compounding. This is important because many hospice patients can’t take medications in their traditional forms.

If you are a caregiver of a hospice patient who is having trouble taking their medications, talk with us at Slater Pharmacy or your hospice professionals about hospice compounding. We would be happy to provide your patient a variety of choices to ease their pain and give them the dignity they deserve.