Hospice care services are a vital part of the care that is available for your aging family member near the end of her life, but there are myths about hospice that make it seem like a less appealing choice. Getting to the bottom of those myths can help your senior get the care that she needs.

Hospice Is a Permanent Treatment Plan

You might be concerned that if your elderly family member opts into hospice services that it’s a permanent situation. In reality, though, your family member can opt back out of hospice if she finds that it isn’t what she wants. Because hospice is not a curative treatment plan, she may at some point decide that she wants to move back to more curative treatments later.

Your Family Member Has to Change Her Medications

It’s highly likely that your elderly family member has been dealing with health issues for a while now and hospice can help her with them. But some people resist hospice because they worry that they’ll have to change or stop taking their medications. That’s not really the case, though. In order to meet the goals that she has for her future health, there may be different medications that she can take while under the care of hospice. Changing medications isn’t a requirement, though.

Your Family Member Can’t Stay at Home

One reason that a lot of people avoid hospice services is that they believe that in order to use hospice, they have to go somewhere else. But the truth is that your senior can stay in her own home and have hospice care providers come to her. This allows your elderly family member to remain in a familiar environment where she feels safer and more comfortable.

Your Family Member Won’t Be Conscious

You might be worried that in order to help your aging family member to manage her pain, that might mean that she ends up sedated. There are lots of ways to manage pain for your aging family member that doesn’t involve keeping her asleep and unaware. By using those other methods, your family member can spend the time that she has left with you and other family members.

Learning the truth about these and other misconceptions can help you and your family member decide if hospice care is right for her. If you still have other questions, make sure that you ask them. Hospice care providers can help you to determine what type of care is right for your family member’s current goals and health situation.

If you or a loved-one have questions about Elder Care in Voorhees, NJ, please contact the caring staff at Serenity Hospice. Call today, we can help:  (609)-227-2400