Episode 226: Hospice at Home and What Landlords and Property Managers Should Know with Maui Hospice’s Tanya Barbero
Summary
In this episode, Dr. Jennifer Salisbury interviews Tanya Barbero of Hospice Maui about what landlords and property managers should understand when a tenant receives hospice care at home. Tanya explains that hospice is comfort-focused care provided wherever a person lives, including rental housing, and clarifies what property owners can expect regarding visits, equipment, and family presence. Drawing from both her professional experience and personal journey with loss and serious illness, she shares how hospice creates dignity and sacred space at the end of life. The conversation outlines clear boundaries for landlords, emphasizing professionalism, non-discrimination, and the importance of stable housing for aging in place. Listeners walk away with practical guidance and a deeper understanding of how housing professionals can support families during one of life’s most meaningful transitions.
Listen to the full episode :
This Week’s Blog Post:
Welcome to My Life as a Landlord where we educate curious US and Canadian landlords, answer rental questions and clear up confusions about all things housing. In today’s episode, I have a conversation that may not often come up in real estate meetings or property management trainings, but it should, and it’s going to come up more and more. We’re talking about hospice care and specifically hospice care in rental housing. As more people choose to age in place, landlords and property managers are increasingly encountering tenants receiving hospice services at home. I walk through what that means for landlords, what your responsibilities are, what you don’t do, and how housing professionals can respond with dignity and professionalism as the end of life is inevitable.
What Hospice Really Is
Tanya explains that hospice is primarily a philosophy, not a place, and it recognizes that death is a natural part of life. The role of hospice care is to provide as much comfort and dignity as possible until a person reaches that time when they die. It is not about a death sentence, it is about living the best of the rest of your life. Hospice is an interdisciplinary team that provides care when there is no cure to an illness and the focus shifts to comfort. Most people say they want to die at home, and hospice allows that to happen by making the home the center of care.
What Landlords Should Expect
We walk through what landlords can expect when hospice care is happening in a rental unit. There will be more people coming and going, including care teams, family members, and visitors who want to find closure. The home becomes the center of care, and while hospice staff are not there 24 hours, families provide much of the caregiving. There may be increased electricity use for equipment like oxygen, and there may be additional people staying in the unit for short periods of time. The most important thing is recognizing that this is already a stressful time, and adding anything more to the tenant or their family can make it more difficult.
Balancing the Landlord Role and the Human Role
We explain that this is where landlords need to put on their human hat, not just their landlord hat. While there may be questions about leases, occupancy, or timelines, this is part of the life process. Death is going to happen to all of us, and while it is a sad time, it can also be a beautiful and precious time for families. Treating people the way you would want to be treated matters here. Simple things like flexibility, understanding, and not adding pressure can make a significant difference during this time.
The Takeaway
We close by emphasizing that death is not a clinical experience, it is a life experience. Landlords can respond with both dignity and professionalism while still maintaining boundaries. It is not overstepping to share information about available services if someone might benefit from that extra layer of support. By providing stable housing and allowing someone to remain in a place they call home, landlords are part of a larger network of care. The takeaway is simple: recognize the humanity in the situation, support where appropriate, and treat others the way you would want to be treated.