Hospice Care For Those Transitioning to the End of Life
Death is a natural part of the life cycle. More people are choosing to live out their last days in their own home, surrounded by the familiar instead of an institution. Hospice care is a special type of in-home care that usually lasts for less than a year.
What is hospice care?
Hospice care provides support to both you and your loved one when they are suffering in the advanced stages of an illness. Hospice care focuses on the quality of life and not curing the disease. The goals for each day of hospice care are to allow your loved one to live as pain-free and alert as possible so they can have the highest quality of life in their remaining time.
There are many myths and misunderstandings about what hospice care is. Many people mistakenly believe that hospice care is only for the last few days before a person dies. Hospice care can last up to a year, and sometimes more. It is designed to ease suffering when someone is in the advanced stages of a disease at it is more appropriate to focus on quality of life instead of a cure.
Hospice is not just physical care. The companionship and emotional support hospice care provides to your loved one is some of the most important care they will receive during this time period.
Hospice care is not about giving up hope. Hospice care is about understanding and transitioning through different stages of the natural life cycle. Hospice is about making every day count and living live as fully as possible.
It is not just your loved one who needs hospice care. Our hospice caregivers also provide emotional support to the family and help everyone understand and accept the transition your loved one is going through.
Hospice care does not require that your loved one give up seeing any doctors or medical professionals. Many hospice patients will continue to receive some life saving treatments and work with a doctor on pain management issues.
What are the advantages of home hospice care?
When a person receives hospice care in their home, it can help restore a sense of dignity that is often lost when confined to a hospital or other institution for weeks or months at a time. Hospice care allows your loved one as well as their friends and family to accept this new stage of life and come to terms with it.
Hospice care makes the last stages of a person’s life ones that can be remembered fondly when they are gone. Because the goal is no longer seeking a cure, but instead on comfort and alertness, many family members feel that they finally get their loved one back during hospice care and are able to spend high quality time with their loved one.
Hospice care is flexible to the needs of you e loved one. There will be good days and bad days. But, through it all, they will have a dedicated and compassionate caregiver making sure all their needs are met. You will never have to wonder how your loved one is doing. You can talk to their caregiver and get a status update.
As much as you would love to spend every hour with your loved one, you have your own life to live and responsibilities to meet. Having a hospice caregiver allows you peace of mind, freedom from guilt, and the ability to get the rest you need. Hospice care enables the family to not worry about the day-to-day needs of their loved one and instead lets them focus on enjoying the time they have left.