This past spring, Joan Prum’s advanced age and increasing frailty ushered in a new reality when she became a hospice patient.

“I thought that unless you were really infirm and bedridden, you wouldn’t be a candidate for hospice, but it turns out not to be true,” Prum said.

Healthcare teams provide comfort to hospice patients expected to live no longer than six months. As with all palliative care, trained professionals offer medication and treatments to decrease pain and increase quality of life. But with hospice, attempts to cure a person’s illness are stopped.

Connecticut Hospice, which oversees Prum’s care, became the first hospice in the nation 50 years ago. Predicting how long somebody has to live is difficult, but CEO Barbara Pearce says the patient and their families make the decision to enter hospice.

Routine hospice services average about $200 a day and are covered by Medicare, Medicaid and most private insurance plans. Only about half of Medicare patients use it, according to the National Hospice and Palliative Care Association.

“Hospice care involves sitting down at the very beginning and say, what are your goals of care? What do you want your life to look like in the next few months? And how can we help?” Pearce said.

Hospice care can be given in nursing homes, assisted living facilities, and places like Connecticut Hospice, but about 99% choose to receive services at home, just like Prum and former President Jimmy Carter.

Carter, who turns 100 years old on Tuesday, Oct. 1, is the oldest former president in U.S. history, and has been in home hospice care for the past 19 months.

“We are all rooting for Jimmy Carter. He has done more for us than we could ever do for ourselves by pointing out that it’s a reasonable choice to make. He’s given everybody permission to consider that as a reasonable option that doesn’t shorten their life, but does increase their comfort and fulfillment,” Pearce said.

Prum still cooks and can mostly navigate her Connecticut apartment on her own, but she depends on hospice staff and other visitors to keep her safe and engaged.

Prum says she hopes to stay around longer to spend time with her eight grandchildren. With the help of home hospice, she’s savoring every precious moment. 

Jon LaPook

Jon LaPook, M.D. is the award-winning chief medical correspondent for CBS News, where his reporting is featured on all CBS News platforms and programs. Since joining CBS News in 2006, LaPook has delivered more than 1,200 reports on a wide variety of breaking news and trending stories in the health and medical fields, as well as feature stories on music, lifestyle and profiles of entertainment stars.