Palliative Care for Elderly & Special Needs Individuals
Palliative care enhances the quality of life of people facing life-limiting illnesses and provides end-of-life care. Our compassionate and comprehensive services address caregivers’ and patients’ emotional, physical, spiritual, and practical requirements.
Palliative care is an individualized service based on the individual’s needs and provided by an interprofessional team. Many healthcare providers are becoming familiar with removing symptoms and stress triggers from illness.
At Ask4Care, our caregivers work with clients and their families to manage hardship and pain resulting from various diseases. We provide maximum comfort to clients while preserving their dignity, enabling them to finish life on their terms.
Understanding Palliative Care
Palliative care differs from curative treatment in that it focuses on improving the quality of life for individuals rather than attempting to cure the underlying condition. It provides holistic support, addressing the emotional, physical, and spiritual needs of those experiencing severe diseases and chronic conditions.
This form of care helps clients manage their emotional stressors and physical symptoms while focusing on their values, care, and what is essential to them. It also recognizes the challenge of maintaining severe or chronic illness and focuses on decreasing emotional and physical discomfort.
Palliative care service can be integrated alongside the individual’s overall treatment plan. The client does not have to cease other parts of recommended care or treatment while working with a private palliative care team unless they want to. Those receiving care can also participate in additional life-prolonging therapies like chemotherapy, dialysis, and radiation.
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Palliative Home Care
Choosing to remain in the patient’s home is often the best setting, especially for people in their later stages of life. It allows them to receive care within a comfortable, familiar environment.
Palliative home care can be offered within the house through family caregivers, home care agencies, or a combination. Patients are given personalized attention and their family members can be closely involved in their care as well. Home-based care is best for people who do not require complicated and intensive medical help that only a hospital can provide.
Some medical assistance can be offered at home, but only if the family can modify the house to accommodate necessary equipment.
If you are considering at-home care, some questions to consider include:
- Can caregivers take time off from their regular jobs?
- Do you have the resources for a home death?
- Are you eligible for caregiver benefits?
- Can someone help with daily activities?
- Is there ample room for medical equipment to provide care?
- Is your family comfortable with providers entering the home to assist with caregiving duties? Palliative care nurses, home care workers, and doctors may need to visit the house.
Palliative and Hospice Care
Residential hospices offer a caregiving facility for those in the end stages of life in a home-like atmosphere. Hospices provide 24/7 end of life care and support and can offer assistance to family members.
Services are given by teams of interdisciplinary healthcare providers who have palliative care expertise. These palliative and hospice care services include pain management, emotional support and assistance with end-of-life decisions.
Individuals enter end of life care when providing care at home isn’t an option and when other solutions are no longer viable. Residential hospices provide medical help, although to a lesser extent than in a hospital.
Admission criteria vary for hospice palliative care, so contacting the location to become familiar with their requirements is advisable.
Specialized Palliative Care
Specialized palliative care offers additional support when staying at home is no longer a viable solution. It assists families and clients in making informed decisions about what care is best for their situation.
Dementia
Those experiencing dementia may not know they are thirsty or hungry. They lose the ability to eat and feed themselves. Those surrounding them may face devastating decisions when the person with dementia cannot eat, and they must examine alternative methods of nutrition.
Teams specializing in palliative care for dementia ensure the patient receives care within a skilled nursing facility when home care is not feasible. Specialists assist families and patients in navigating a complex healthcare system to improve their loved one’s quality of life.
Cancer Patients
Palliative care support teams understand cancer and its surrounding symptoms can cause suffering for patients. The team assists in relieving the stress and symptoms of cancer. They also help people deal with feelings of being overwhelmed with complex medical information and concern over making essential treatment plans.
Experts offering palliative care for cancer patients help them navigate immediate concerns, such as how radiation or chemotherapy may make them feel and the impacts of surgery. They will discuss options if hair loss occurs and what can happen if they decide to end treatment.
The staff will also assist patients in determining what they find important in life and weigh treatment effects against cancer to help your loved one make an informed decision. Furthermore, studies indicate those receiving private palliative care for cancer live longer.
ALS (Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis)
Palliative care service staff works with the neurologist, individual, and additional physicians regarding symptom management, coordination of care, and communication. They are experts in managing the stress and symptoms of ALS. The team is there to provide an extra layer of support when needed.
Palliative care teams can assist your loved one in managing pain, depression, anxiety and discomfort. They will help the family make decisions and facilitate communication between the client, family, and doctors to help clarify care objectives. Experts will also assist with advanced care planning, artificial feeding, mechanical ventilation, and hydration.
Choosing Between Palliative Care Facilities and Home-Based Care
When faced with the decision between home-based care versus palliative care facilities, there are many things to consider. A family member’s availability to provide care is an essential factor in the equation, as is the division of responsibilities. Caring for another individual can be a full-time responsibility. While rewarding, it can also be emotionally, physically, and mentally taxing.
Safety is also a consideration. When the person becomes weaker from advanced illness, mobility becomes an issue. Options to maintain their safety become imperative and may involve having equipment to assist motion (commode) or having a person safely assist your loved one in going from a bed to a chair.
In-home care is a viable option to keep your loved one in familiar settings. Palliative home care is an option if you can no longer provide adequate care for your loved one at home. Facilities provide access to physicians, palliative care nurses, and support workers for additional assistance.
Compassionate Palliative Care With Ask4Care
Contact Ask4Care to discuss what options work best if you are considering palliative home care. We can provide information, allowing you to make an informed decision for your loved one’s care. Our compassionate palliative care team is dedicated to providing quality care and fulfilling patients’ physical, mental and spiritual needs.
Call us at (416) 565-9458 to book a no-obligation consultation. Ask4Care has three locations in Ontario (Toronto, Brampton and Barrie) to serve you. You can also email us at info@ask4care.com or fill out our online form.