What is hospice care?
Hospice care is when you decide to take your senior out of the hospital, and start caring for them at home.
It’s important to note that hospice care is different from regular home care.
Home care works in tandem with your loved one’s usual hospital and doctors’ visits. home care professionals help your senior for the main purpose of a cure.
Hospice care, on the other hand, focuses on pain alleviation and making the most out of the life your senior has. Hospice care professionals help your senior for the main purpose of comfort.
How hospice care helps seniors?
At a certain point, seniors get overwhelmed with the constant medical probing and treatments. And this stress can often lead to sadness and loneliness- at which time, the treatments may be doing more mental harm than help.
Hospice care allows seniors to come back home, and live in the comfort of familiarity. It allows them to focus on what matters most to them – family, friends, social change, a lifelong project. All the while, being happy as a clam.
Hospice care allows for a normal life, letting seniors live the most meaningful life they can with the time they have left.
When to consider hospice care?
As hospice care is meant for terminally ill patients, your senior’s doctor will usually let you know when the time is right.
However, it’s important to always keep hospice care in the back of your mind. So that when the time comes, you’ll be more likely to recognize it.
There’s no set time or date for any one patient to go into hospice care. It’s simply a matter of what feels right to both the caregiver and the senior.
Obviously, seniors and caregivers should always consult their doctors before making the decision. But, at the end of the day, choosing hospice care is a matter of choosing what matters most.
Hospice care is not about extending life, but about making the most out of the life you have.
Is hospice care right for you and your senior?
If you’re having trouble deciding whether to choose hospice care, some questions to ask are:
- Has your doctor placed a time limit on your senior’s life?
- Is your senior terminally ill?
- Does your senior thrive better at home?
- Do you have the money for hospice care?
- Do you have the money for hospital stay?
- Are you spending enough time with your senior?
- Is your senior getting depressed in the hospital?
- What matters most to your senior?
Obviously, these questions don’t cover everything. But they’re something to get you thinking in the right direction.
Still having trouble deciding?
Making the decision to go with hospice care can be daunting.
That’s why, at Aurora Home Care, we try to share with you as much information as possible.
We believe that information helps you make the right choice for you and your loved one.
If you’re still having trouble deciding, give us a call any day, and we’ll be happy to give you the full lowdown on hospice care.
Aurora Hospice Care: 215-396-8822
