What Does Your Senior Want at the End of Her Life?
It’s difficult to talk about end-of-life topics with your aging adult because that first means acknowledging that the time is near to really face those issues. Here are some of the things your elderly family member might be wanting as her life slows down.
Visits with Pastors, Priests, or Other Religious Leaders
Even if your elderly family member has never been extremely religious throughout her life, she may find that changing near the end of her life. Your elderly family member may want to meet with religious leaders who correspond with her beliefs to talk about final wishes and other topics. Many church leaders make time for visits like this, even if the person requesting their time hasn’t been a regular churchgoer.
Less Worrying about What Happens Next
Your family member may be tired of worrying about what is going to happen next. She may be ready for you to take over that set of concerns completely for her. When your elderly family member knows that you’ve got everything under control, she can spend the energy that she still has left on the topics and the activities that truly matter to her, such as spending time with visiting family members.
Staying out of the Hospital
By this stage in her journey, your elderly family member may well be completely over going to the hospital at all. Helping her to avoid visits to the hospital can mean helping to control germs in her environment and making sure that she’s got end-of-life care providers available who can help you meet her medical needs.
Knowing That Her Medical Providers Are There For Her
It can help a great deal to know that her medical team is behind her on these decisions. Often by the time a senior is reaching the end of her life, curative treatments can do more harm than good. Your senior’s medical team understands that and they can help you and her end-of-life care providers to keep her as comfortable as possible.
Knowing that You and Other Family Members Are Okay
When you and other family members who spend time around your senior are able to deal with your feelings that helps her to feel that you’ll be okay. She can’t change her situation, but she can likely feel a little more at peace knowing that you’re doing what you need to do in order to take care of yourself. This means eating regularly, getting some rest, and getting help with your grief when you need it.
Having help from end-of-life care providers can give you the ability to put all of these solutions and more in place for your aging adult. They can help you to determine how to resolve needs that you didn’t even realize that your senior had.
CHAP Accredited