Blog

What You Should Know about Hospice Care

August 25, 2016

Elderly Care in Jupiter FL

Elderly Care in Jupiter FLAs a family caregiver one of the greatest challenges that you are going to face is the realization that your parent is reaching their end of life transition. This can be an emotional time for both of you, and a situation in which you will need to make many potentially difficult decisions. One decision that you can make now to prepare you for this time and make the transition easier is whether to utilize the services of hospice care. Finding out everything that you can about this type of care at sharing it with your loved one can help the two of you decide together whether it is the right choice for your senior at this time in their life. Some things that you should know about hospice care include:
• Hospice care is not a location. One of the biggest sources of resistance when it comes to hospice care is the thought that this is a place that a senior has to go in order to receive care. They might be afraid to leave the home where they are comfortable and that they love, and worry about the type of care that they would receive when they were there. It is important to realize that while there are facilities that specialize in hospice care, hospice itself is an approach to care. Rather than being a place where your parent would actually go, this would be a philosophy of care your parent could receive in their own home that would be tailored around making their transition as smooth, comfortable, and stress-free as possible.
• You would not be removed from their care. Hospice care is not an ending to the care that they are already receiving from you or an elderly care provider. Instead, this is a continuation and extension of this nurturing, personalized care. You would continue to be the primary source of contact and care while taking advantage of the support, encouragement, and services of the hospice team.
• Hospice helps you as well. Hospice care is not just about the services that it can provide for your aging parent. This type of care can benefit you as well. When your parent enters into hospice care they come under the care of a team of professionals who tailor their approach to your loved one's exact needs and individual thoughts, feelings, and goals. They also provide support and services that make your life as a family caregiver and as the adult child of a person going through this transition easier and less stressful. This can mean offering spiritual support and guidance, emotional support, and respite care to give you much-deserved breaks from the demands of caregiving
• Your parent still receives care. Hospice care is not about abandoning your loved one or giving up on them. Rather, it is about changing the goal of your care from trying to find a cure to whatever condition they are suffering with and extend their life to helping them to live the highest quality of life possible for as long as they have left. This includes receiving medical care to ease symptoms and improve functioning. http://www.aarp.org/home-family/caregiving/info-2015/hospice-what-you-need-to-know.html
If you or an aging loved one are considering elderly care in Jupiter, FL, contact the caring staff at BrightStar Care of Jupiter. Call today (561) 741-1200.