07/29/2026
This article speaks to the reality families face when someone they love is dying at home.
They are exhausted. They are afraid. They are trying to manage medications, symptoms, sleepless nights and grief, while putting their own health, work and financial security aside.
They should not have to do it alone.
California’s hospice regulations recognize that responsibility.
Section 74864 requires the hospice to assess the immediate needs of both the patient and the family, including whether the caregiver is willing and truly able to provide the care being asked of them.
Section 74868 reinforces that hospice is interdisciplinary care. Nurses, physicians, social workers, counselors, aides, volunteers and the full team must work together to support the patient and family. Every discipline matters.
California Department of Public Health made sure of that.
Caregiver support is also part of patient acuity under section 74848. The hospice must consider the level of support available, family requests for symptom management and whether additional personnel are needed.
A family caregiver may be part of the team.
They are not the entire team.
No family should feel abandoned while caring for someone they love at the end of life.
Supporting the patient means supporting the family. The two cannot be separated.
Hospice and Palliative Care Association (CHAPCA)
Family caregivers lack the resources and insight needed to better support a terminally ill loved one in a home care setting. The financial and
