When your senior parent is ready for hospice/cancer care, it’s an emotional time filled with questions. In most cases, family caregivers haven’t gone through hospice/cancer care before and have no idea what to expect.
Hospice/cancer care at home is designed to help seniors and their family members navigate this difficult time with less stress and confusion. Your parent will have a dedicated care team to keep them comfortable and pain-free at all times.
Professionals can also help you through this process by answering your questions, helping you fill out paperwork, and taking care of day-to-day tasks so you can focus on being with your parent and other family members.
Hospice/cancer care is a lifeline for families during this hard time. Knowing your parent is as comfortable as possible can ease a lot of stress. A hospice care team is there to support your senior parent and family members.
How Hospice/Cancer Care Helps Your Parent
When your parent goes home and hospice/cancer care begins, you can expect consistent medical support and care for your parent.
Care providers will help your parent stay comfortable by doing things like:
Managing Pain
Managing pain is one of the most important parts of hospice/cancer care. Your parent’s hospice team will regularly assess their pain and determine whether their current treatment is keeping them comfortable.
Hospice nurses and doctors can work together to manage pain medications and make adjustments when necessary. They can also teach you how to recognize signs that your parent may be experiencing pain, particularly if your parent can no longer easily communicate how they feel.
Managing Other Uncomfortable Symptoms
Pain isn’t the only symptom your parent may experience. Depending on their illness, they may experience nausea, shortness of breath, anxiety, constipation, restlessness, or other uncomfortable symptoms.
The hospice team can monitor these symptoms and provide medications, treatments, or other comfort measures to manage them.
Because your parent’s condition may change, the hospice team will continue evaluating their symptoms and adjusting their care plan as necessary.
Providing Personal Care
Everyday personal care may become difficult for your parent as their illness progresses, but they may be uncomfortable asking family members for help. Hospice aides can provide hands-on assistance to help your parent stay clean and comfortable.
Depending on your parent’s needs, this may include assistance with bathing, grooming, dressing, toileting, changing bedding, and other personal care tasks.
Hospice aides are trained to provide this assistance while protecting your parent’s dignity and minimizing unnecessary discomfort.
Providing Medical Equipment and Supplies
Your parent may need special equipment to remain comfortable and safe at home. Hospice can arrange for medical equipment related to your parent’s terminal illness and hospice plan of care.
This may include a hospital bed, bedside commode, wheelchair, oxygen equipment, or other necessary items. Hospice may also provide certain medical supplies needed for your parent’s care.
Having the appropriate equipment at home can make it easier to position your parent comfortably and provide the care they need as their condition changes.
Providing Emotional and Spiritual Support
Hospice/cancer care focuses on your parent’s emotional and spiritual comfort in addition to their physical needs.
Social workers, chaplains, counselors, and other members of the hospice team can talk with your parent about their fears, concerns, relationships, or other important issues.
Spiritual support doesn’t have to be religious. The goal is to meet your parent where they are and provide the type of emotional or spiritual support they want during this stage of life.
Emotional and spiritual support is also available to family members who are struggling with the emotions that come with caring for a loved one receiving hospice care. With hospice/cancer care, the entire family will get the support they need during a very emotional time.
If you or an aging loved one are considering Hospice/Cancer Care in Wellesley, MA, please contact the caring staff at Care Resolutions, Inc today. 508-359-4675
CARE Resolutions, Inc provides quality 24-Hour Home Care for seniors and families in Walpole, Dover, Wellesley, Framingham, Norfolk, Quincy, Weston, Medfield, Boston, Sherborn, MA and surrounding areas.
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