Mesothelioma patients need specialized attention during the disease’s later stages. Four levels of hospice care address these needs: Routine home care, general inpatient care, continuous home care and respite care. Understanding the services in each level helps you decide the right type for you.
The 4 different types of hospice care pinpoint the level and kinds of care needed, the stage of the disease and the patient’s location. Hospice providers supplement what primary physicians, family members or other caregivers do, promoting quality of life, offering comfort and addressing various needs.
Malignant mesothelioma is an aggressive form of cancer that typically spreads throughout the body, drastically shortening life expectancy. Hospice care for mesothelioma patients also supports their caregivers during the patient’s end-stages of life.
4 Stages of Hospice Care
Routine home care
General inpatient care
Continuous home care
Respite care
Hospices must provide all 4 levels of care to qualify for Medicare certification. Private insurance companies may have their own hospice provider eligibility requirements.
Private insurers and Medicare cover most hospice-related expenses, but check the patient’s policy specifics to see if there are any coverage exceptions. For example, Medicare only pays for room and board in certain situations.
Hospice Care vs. Palliative Care
While both palliative and hospice care help patients with serious illnesses live more comfortably, each has specific goals and parameters. Hospice care is more focused on end-of-life situations while palliative care also happens along with treatment.
Palliative care initiated soon after a mesothelioma diagnosis can help patients fare better as the disease progresses, potentially prolonging life. Hospice care typically begins when life expectancy reaches 6 months, focusing on comfort rather than curative treatments. Patients who choose to discontinue curative treatments may also qualify for hospice care.
Mesothelioma Palliative Care
Mesothelioma Hospice Care
Coverage
Private or commercial health care plans
Available to everyone through Medicare, Medicaid and private insurers
Goal
Manage symptoms and pain; may include curative intent; educating patients and families about mesothelioma
Promote quality of life, patient comfort and support for patients and their families
Location
Hospitals and cancer centers, assisted living facilities or the patient’s home
The patient’s home, dedicated hospice facilities and assisted living or nursing home facilities
Timing
At any stage after diagnosis
Life expectancy under 6 months
Process
Receive curative treatments along with palliative care
No longer undergo curative treatment, hospice care teams manage symptoms
Palliative treatment for mesothelioma patients focuses on a patient’s needs rather than their prognosis. It may include managing symptoms such as appetite loss and pain. Patients may receive palliative care alongside cancer treatments. Palliative care medical professionals coordinate with the patient’s mesothelioma doctors.
While hospice care shares similarities with palliative care such as pain and symptom relief and comfort care, there are significant differences. Hospice care typically only begins when the patient’s medical team, the patient and their family agree that further curative treatments should end. Treatments in hospice care don’t have a curative intent.
Routine Home Care
With routine home care, the most common of the 4 levels of hospice care, hospice teams travel to where the patient lives to administer care. In this stage, patient symptoms, including breathing difficulties, nausea and vomiting, are typically under control and the patient’s condition is stable.
Most people, including patients with terminal illnesses like mesothelioma, are more comfortable at home. If the spread of mesothelioma progresses, it can make providing physical care at home more challenging for family members. As home care becomes more difficult, families often partner with a hospice team for additional support.
As we began home hospice care, we invited everyone to come now and see him. It’s been wonderful. He hasn’t smiled and laughed this much in quite a while.
Aline DeLisle, wife of a pleural mesothelioma patient
Routine home care allows mesothelioma patients to stay in a comfortable space while still receiving the specialized care they need. Homemaker services and hospice aids are options for routine home care patients. Hospice teams visit the patient but don’t provide around-the-clock assistance with this stage of hospice.
The Mesothelioma Center and various organizations offer support for mesothelioma patients and their families, starting with this first level of care. This support includes support groups, financial support and lodging close to care facilities. Patient Advocates can assist mesothelioma survivors and their loved ones throughout their journeys from diagnosis to different levels of hospice care.
Rich DeLisle
Verified Asbestos.com Survivor
Mesothelioma Survivor Starts Hospice…with a Party
Rich and Aline DeLisle made the difficult decision recently to stop Rich’s pleural mesothelioma treatment and begin home hospice care. Then, something unusual happened. The party started. Sons and daughters, in-laws, grandchildren and great grandchildren, nieces and nephews, and friends he hadn’t seen in years, all began descending upon their Central Florida home.
During the general inpatient stage of hospice care, hospice teams care for patients in tandem with the facility’s staff. Mesothelioma patients often face short-term health crises beyond the scope of what home hospice care provides.
Brief inpatient stays can become necessary when acute or chronic symptoms flare up or pain is unmanageable at home. Patients need qualified medical professionals nearby 24/7 during these times to provide fast interventions.
Being brave enough to be open to accept help from all the members of the hospice care team can be very helpful at reducing emotional distress.
Dana Nolan, mental health counselor
Heightened stress often accompanies mesothelioma crises, for both patients and their families. The continuity of seeing the familiar faces of hospice workers in unfamiliar surroundings often comforts patients.
Some people are reluctant to show self-perceived weakness in front of loved ones. It’s sometimes easier for patients and families to open up about fears and feelings to compassionate, caring relative strangers in the form of hospice team members.
During crises that don’t require hospitalization, mesothelioma hospice patients can benefit from nursing care in their homes through continuous home care. Health care professionals remain in the home for at least 8 hours and sometimes stay around the clock.
This stage of hospice care is typically brief, only lasting until the crisis is over. The primary focus is managing acute symptoms to make patients more comfortable.
Quick Fact
Use of continuous home care across all health conditions decreased 50% between 2013 and 2022.
Source:
National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization
Continuous home care has multiple benefits for mesothelioma patients and their families. Hospice workers taking over physical care restores some opportunities for patients and their loved ones to focus on interacting as a family.
Hospice caregivers can help patients and families understand what to expect as mesothelioma progresses. This level of care offers the expertise of trained professionals during symptomatic episodes.
Respite Care
Respite care helps to minimize the risk of caregiver burnout. This stage of hospice care allows primary caregivers to take a break for short periods while professionals take care of the patient.
Caring for someone with mesothelioma has an impact on caregivers’ mental, emotional and physical health. Caregivers may have trouble sleeping, maintaining a healthy diet or even getting fresh air or exercise. They may feel frustrated, irritable or angry.
Did You Know?
Caregivers to 291 pleural mesothelioma patients shared data in a 2023 study. Zarit Caregiver Burden Interview scores indicated 74% of the caregivers were at risk of depression.
These effects can be particularly challenging to balance with outside employment, children at home and other obligations. In a 2023 study of caregivers’ experiences, employed caregivers reported experiencing mean activity impairment of 40%, indicating caregiving had a direct impact on their work life.
Most mesothelioma patients don’t like being the cause of caregiver stress, welcoming the opportunity for their caregiver to have some much-needed downtime. Patients may also appreciate getting to interact with new people.
How To Determine the Right Level of Mesothelioma Hospice Care
When you decide that it’s time for hospice care, there are several factors to consider when determining which level of care is appropriate. Your hospice provider can help you make the right choice.
Your goal is to make the patient more comfortable and offer support for the primary caregiver as well. Asking for help can be difficult for many people, but selecting the right hospice services for you can make a positive difference.
Recommended Reading
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The Mesothelioma Center at Asbestos.com has provided patients and their loved ones the most updated and reliable information on mesothelioma and asbestos exposure since 2006.
Our team of Patient Advocates includes a medical doctor, a registered nurse, health services administrators, veterans, VA-accredited Claims Agents, an oncology patient navigator and hospice care expert. Their combined expertise means we help any mesothelioma patient or loved one through every step of their cancer journey.
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About The Mesothelioma Center at Asbestos.com
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My family has only the highest compliment for the assistance and support that we received from The Mesothelioma Center. This is a staff of compassionate and knowledgeable individuals who respect what your family is experiencing and who go the extra mile to make an unfortunate diagnosis less stressful. Information and assistance were provided by The Mesothelioma Center at no cost to our family.
Asbestos.com. (2024, July 19). Four Levels of Hospice Care for Mesothelioma Patients. Retrieved May 13, 2026, from https://www.asbestos.com/support/hospice/four-levels/
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Asbestos.com. "Four Levels of Hospice Care for Mesothelioma Patients." Last modified July 19, 2024. https://www.asbestos.com/support/hospice/four-levels/.
The Patient Advocates are absolutely amazing and helpful! I am so very pleased with the information and the emotional support that I have received from everyone! When I felt all hope was lost, Amy gave me great information and was so compassionate. I do not feel alone, and I know there is strong support for anyone dealing with this tragic disease. I received a FREE information package, including a recipe book, information on the disease, a toll-free number to contact for assistance, and a book with the answers to 100 questions that are commonly asked. This information alone was worth my time! I read for hours and hours, and just that alone—knowledge—can be a great comfort. To fully understand this disease, to just have the knowledge!!! Thank you all!! Thank you so, so much.
I found out about The Mesothelioma Center while researching peritoneal mesothelioma days after being diagnosed with the malignant cancer. While a lot of the 'Mesothelioma' websites are actually law firms just trying to get your business, theirs is a user-friendly, comprehensive website set up to aid patients, their loved ones, and/or caregivers with all things related to a cancer diagnosis from asbestos exposure. I was soon put in touch with one of their doctors, Snehal Smart, M.D., who immediately sent me a packet of general information, a book on surviving mesothelioma, and offered me assistance in finding doctors, reputable law firms, financial help, support groups, and so much more! The Mesothelioma Center's website is, in my opinion, the best resource for anyone suffering from cancer due to asbestos. Dr. Smart is amazing! She is very knowledgeable and helpful, but she is also a very kind, caring doctor who goes the distance whether she is researching a pertinent topic, making suggestions, providing contacts, or just being a good listener on the other end of the phone. In addition, Dr. Smart referred me to a law firm who is now fighting to get me compensation for the negligence of those defendants whose products exposed me to asbestos and caused my subsequent cancer. Thank you, TMC and Dr. Smart, for helping me determine the best treatment plan for my cancer and being part of my miracle. I am currently cancer-free and back to being a mom to my precious daughter. The Mesothelioma Center, their website, and their staff rock!!
I reached out and talked to Aaron a couple of weeks before my diagnosis of malignant mesothelioma. He was very helpful and gave me a lot of information at that time. I have talked to him several times since and always gotten my questions answered. Aaron is very knowledgeable and has been very helpful and supportive. He also sent me a comprehensive packet of information, including info on nutrition, legal help, and medical resources.
My brother was recently diagnosed with mesothelioma. I began researching it online. The information I received from The Mesothelioma Center is all-inclusive. No need to look anywhere else! The first phone call was with Karen, and she answered all my questions with ease. She also had a calming effect by presenting all the options available for my brother and his family. Thank you!
My Dad was diagnosed with mesothelioma, and thankfully The Mesothelioma Center was the first place I called. Snehal Smart answered the phone immediately and was very helpful. She immediately sent us an information packet and answered questions. She followed up each week to see how things were going and if we had any questions. She also connected us with a lawyer. I highly recommend this Center.
Joe Lahav is a lawyer and legal advisor at The Mesothelioma Center, where he also served as a Patient Advocate for seven years. Joe lost his mother to cancer and understands the emotional toll mesothelioma can have on families.
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