What is the difference between Palliative and long term Hospice care? How do you get either?

Hi, I hope you don't mind me sharing these official differences, just to be accurate. (Did a bit of research for u).
"The Difference Between Palliative Care and Hospice."
1.)Both palliative care and hospice care provide comfort. But palliative care can begin at diagnosis, and at the same time as treatment. Hospice care begins after treatment of the disease is stopped and when it is clear that the person is not going to survive the illness.
https://medlineplus.gov/ency/patientinstructions/000536.htm

2.)"Hospice care is reserved for terminally ill patients when treatment is no longer curative during the last 6 months of life, assuming the disease takes its normal course.
Palliative care can be employed while the patient is continuing active treatment through different phases of their life limiting condition."
https://www.hospicesect.org/hospice-and-palliative-care
[Please visit the sites listed for much more detail.]

Her doctor must order hospice and that would be when he believes she has approximately 6 months or less to live. Palliative are is the decision of the patient if she is capable of making that decision. It amounts to "comfort care" only and individual decisions of what to treat and what not to treat. For instance, not to have artificial feedings or fluid or blood. Not to have diagnostic tests. Not to have heroic measures and so on. There are physicians who specialize in Palliative care. It is something Mom or her POA for health care should speak with her MD about.

Hospice is generally for end of life care and the burden of care is placed on family members unless you can afford to hire home health aides. With hospice, you are assigned an aide that comes a few times to a week to bathe the person and a nurse that checks in weekly and monitors vital signs and orders medications and whatnot. There are also Chaplin’s and social workers who will visit if you want. But the actual caregiving is provided by the family or hired workers. The focus will be on keeping your parents comfortable. There won’t be doctor visits or trips to the ER (unless hospice is discontinued). Hospice will provide pain meds, anxiety meds, hospital beds, adult diapers, and other medical supplies.

Palliative care is an approach to health care you could say. Instead of focusing on cures and prolonging live, they focus on relief of symptoms & improving the quality of life for people with chronic illness. It is very similar to hospice.

If you really just need help with the day to day care of your parents, if there are no long term illnesses or anything then you probably need home health care.

That's really confusing. Do you know anyone who has used these hospice agencies? The one that I selected for my LO is one that often came to the AL where my LO is in MC care. The rep came the day the doctor suggested it to me and I agreed or the next day. Then, things moved fast, I met with the social worker, they got her a bed, new wheelchair, etc. within days. If they had cancelled the appointment, I probably would have gone with another agency. There are specific criteria for hospice care and they should be able to explain that clearly, as well as offer you palliative care, if hospice is not available. The agencies are well acquainted with what qualifies and they have their own doctor too.

If your parents are home alone, they would likely need someone able to care for them in the home, as I don't believe that Hospice provides around the clock caretaking, inside the home. When a friend of mine, who is 80 years old, brought in Hospice for his wife who had cancer, they placed his wife in an inpatient hospice facility, because, he was not able to care for her in the home.