What Does it Mean for Your Senior to Transition to Hospice Care?
If you have never had a family member or friend transition to hospice care, you may not be sure what that really means for your aging adult. Becoming more familiar with what this type of care can offer can help you and your elderly family member to feel more comfortable with the idea.
Her Treatments Aren’t Working for Her
Some treatments simply do not help any longer. Your elderly family member might find that chemotherapy is not something she wants to deal with any longer. For some people, the side effects of active curative therapies are far worse than dealing with the illness itself. Some treatments might have worked for your senior for a period of time, but then they no longer do.
Her Quality of Life is Suffering
Overall quality of life is one of the main focuses of hospice care. Side effects and declining health can seriously impact your senior’s quality of life. Having hospice services available can significantly improve your aging family member’s quality of life, especially from the standpoint of what they can do for you. When you’re able to spend more time with your senior, you’re both in a better frame of mind.
Her Daily Activities are Reduced
As your elderly family member’s health declines, her ability to do what she used to also tends to decline. Her range of motion and her ability to remain mobile can cause your elderly family member to become bedridden. Hospice care providers can help your elderly family member to deal with the changes that she’s experiencing in a positive manner.
She Still Wants to Manage Her Symptoms
Regardless of how your senior feels about curative therapies and treatments, she still has symptoms that she needs to manage appropriately. That can be done without utilizing curative treatments that your senior no longer trusts, which can help her to feel more empowered and more comfortable. As your senior’s symptoms and needs change, so can the approach that you and her care team uses.
Transitioning to hospice care services is not a sign that you or your elderly family member are giving up. It’s a way for her to continue to get the help that she needs without undergoing therapies that she doesn’t want to go through any longer. It can also help you to understand her current stage of life and learn how to cope with what is to come.
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