Hospice care is for those patients who want to improve their quality of life. The range of diseases that make the patients eligible is quite big, but for this article let’s talk about those who are fighting the battle against Alzheimer’s or other forms of dementia. Like for other diseases, Hospice takes care of the pain relief, symptom control and stress reduction. With Alzheimer’s many ups and downs, it’s hard to decide when is the right time to apply for the helping hand of the hospice team. However, once you decide to do that there are many benefits to cultivate.
When is the right time to call for hospice?
As dementia is known for its slow decline, it’s hard to decide on your own when is the right time to call for hospice. Let’s not forget that the eligibility requirement of the hospice states that terminally ill patients should have less than 6 months of remaining life to qualify for the care. In this case, the patients’ doctors can help with their clinical determination of life expectancy. There are also several red flags you can consider to assess the patients’ disease stage. At later stages, the patients fail to perform their daily activities. Indeed, they can’t eat, walk, dress and get a shower, which eventually leads to severe anxiety.
Eventually, the patients start to say only a few words and become totally dependent on their caregivers.
How can hospice help the patients?
A dedicated hospice team initially evaluates the case to come up with the most effective personalized plan for the patients. Note, that the goal of hospice is to relieve pain and reduce the stress of the patients so that they can enjoy their remaining life in a comfortable and loving environment. So how to make sure hospice reaches the goal?
Personalized approach – The real challenge here is that dementia patients can’t express their needs in the late stages of the disease, therefore the hospice team should make sure to cover all the aspects of the patients and address not only pain and symptoms but also nutrition, hydration, skincare, and similar needs.
Home Care – The hospice team should try to contain the symptoms in a loving and caring environment of home, where the patients are with their loved ones feeling let’s stress. If the disease becomes harder to control, hospice can provide round-the-clock inpatient care until the condition stabilizes.
Care Coordination – Hospice team can coordinate the plan with patients’ physicians. The team manager should keep the flow within all the team members and non-members, including personal doctors, caregivers, and so on. The hospice team also takes care of the medical equipment and supplies coordination to ensure patients and caregivers have everything they need.
Emotional and spiritual assistance – Hospice care not only meets the physical needs but also strives to understand and meet the emotional and spiritual needs of the patients. The hospice team can bring clergies, or psychologists to make sure the patients’ needs are understood and met.
If you need to choose hospice care, MD Choice Hospice Care is here to assist you.
Feel free to contact us. Take care of you and your relatives.