In-home supportive care services for the elderly and their families while their loved one is in Hospice, allows for the immediate pressure of life to be shouldered by another. This provides them with time and enough energy to spend with their loved one.
This is how our clients and families have benefited from our caregivers during this time.
• Activities of daily living (personal care) including incontinence
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• Night sitter offering companionship & awareness of needs & alerting of family
• Grocery shopping, meal preparation, errands
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• Homemaking skills: laundry, bed linens, bathrooms, kitchen, vacuuming
• Answering the door and phones, relaying information to family
• Reading or music, conversation
• Keeping log of all activities including when hospice visit
Hospice is an option for people whose life expectancy is six months or less, and involves palliative care (pain and symptom relief) rather than ongoing curative measures(curing treatments), allowing one to live their last days to the fullest, with purpose, dignity, grace, and support of loved ones.
Hospice quickens death.
Myth! Hospice will not accelerate or delay dying. Improving the quality of life and reducing the pain is the goal. When family, friends and loved ones are able to share and experience the remaining time left in a natural, pain-free death, it helps everyone.
Hospice is giving up hope.
Myth! Having the opportunity to calm oneself and refocus on the things wanted they can realistically accomplish or words needed to be said reduces the anxiety of someone dying. Hospice is more than about the physical body. Emotions are important, and acceptance of what is to be needs to be front and center. Focusing on the whole person is more beneficial to the one dying.
A hospice patient who shows signs of recovery can’t return to regular medical treatment.
Myth! If a patient’s condition improves, they can be discharged from hospice and return to curative treatment, or resume their daily lives. If need be, they can later return to hospice care.
During hospice, I can decide to change my mind and return to curative treatments.
Truth! You can change your mind and leave hospice care. Returning to curative treatments won’t allow you to have palliative care at the same time.
Hospice is no more than 6 months. Myth! Most insurance companies, including the Medicare Hospice Benefit, require terminally ill patients have six months or less to live to begin Hospice. A terminally-ill person may receive hospice care for as long as they require it.
I hope this helps to answer some questions. If you would like to comment, you can do it here or go to my official blog and comment there!
http://homecareelgin.com/blog/2013/06/17/hospice-and-palliative-care-myths/
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