As someone who is fiercely independent, I never imagined myself living in an assisted living facility. For that reason, when I was diagnosed with a serious condition, my doctor recommended home health care. It was a little bit intimidating for me at first, but before I knew it, I was living at home, receiving the care I needed from the comfort of my own bed, and getting stronger each and every day. I had such a powerfully positive experience with home health care that I started this very blog. Read more about how home health care could help you or your family members.
If one of your loved ones has a terminal illness and is facing end-of-life challenges, then it is important that they receive support and care in familiar surroundings. Home hospice care provides compassionate care, allowing people to spend their remaining time surrounded by their loved ones in the comfort and security of their own homes. Here are some benefits of home hospice care and how it can offer both emotional and physical care to patients and their loved ones during a uniquely challenging time.
Personalized Supportive Care At Home
Receiving home hospice care helps the patient and their family cope with end-of-life challenges. When terminally ill patients are able to receive care in the comfort of their own homes, it helps promote feelings of peace and security. Patients facing a terminal diagnosis who are at peace with their circumstances may feel more in control of their care.
Home hospice care staff includes experienced doctors, nurses, certified nursing assistants, mental health professionals, and clergy professionals. Your loved one will receive pain medications and assistance with bathing, dressing, grooming, and eating in accordance with their wishes. They may also receive comfort measures such as oxygen therapy to facilitate a better pattern of breathing.
Emotional and Spiritual Care for Patients And Loved Ones
In addition to pain management and other comfort interventions, the in-home hospice staff will ensure that your loved one's spiritual and emotional needs are met in a respectful and gentle manner. Home hospice care staff members understand the importance of providing emotional and spiritual care to end-of-life patients and their families. Emotional and spiritual support comforts patients and their loved ones to help them cope with a terminal diagnosis and to help them come to terms with their emotions, fears, and expectations.
Terminally ill patients may be more receptive to receiving spiritual and emotional support when they are in the comfortable and private surroundings of their homes. Hospice chaplains and other spiritual professionals can offer guidance, and meaningful companionship, and pray with the patient and their family.
The welcoming and non-judgemental attitudes of the hospice staff help provide peace, solace, and comfort to those during times of sadness, anger, confusion, and grief. For patients who are not particularly religious and prefer not to engage in prayer, hospice staff can still provide support by offering the individual and their family positive and peaceful thoughts, and well wishes for what the future may bring.
If you and your loved one are facing end-of-life challenges, consider the benefits of home hospice care. When physical, emotional, and spiritual care is provided in the comfort and familiar surrounding of their own home, it can give patients a better sense of control. This may help them cherish and enjoy the time spent with their loved ones while coping with their challenges.
For more info about in-home hospice, contact a local company.