If you’re a family caregiver for a senior with a serious illness like late-stage terminal cancer, Parkinson’s, Alzheimer’s, or COPD you should know more about palliative care. Palliative care can be an option for helping your senior loved ones have some control over their treatment and be able to live the way they want while they can. Some things that family caregivers and their 24-hour home care providers should know about palliative care are discussed here.
What Is It?
Palliative care is a system of care for very ill seniors that takes a holistic approach to care. Medical care focuses on the management of pain and symptoms of the disease while also providing treatment towards a cure if that is possible. Palliative care requires a medical care team that is made up of both medical professionals and others like 24-hour home care providers who are all working together to make sure that your senior loved one is as comfortable as possible. By focusing on your senior loved one’s quality of life and not just their medical diagnosis a palliative care team gives your senior the support they need to have a fulfilling life for whatever amount of time they still have.
What It’s Not
Palliative care is not hospice care, although hospice care can be part of an overall palliative care approach. Typically hospice care is strictly end of life care that is focused on keeping a very ill senior comfortable while they spend time with their family and friends and get their affairs in order. Palliative care can be given while a senior is in active treatment and seniors can recover from their illness. Hospice care is given when all options for extending life are exhausted.
How It Works
When your senior loved one enters a palliative care system of treatment they will be seen by doctors but also by other service providers like dieticians, physical therapists, psychologists, 24-hour home care providers, and others who can all work together to give your senior loved one a better quality of life. A geriatrician, or a doctor that specializes in senior care exclusively, can be the team manager for a palliative care team and organize appointments and make sure that all the palliative care team members are on the same page when it comes to your senior loved one’s health. The palliative care team strives to provide medical, physical, emotional, social, and psychological support to seniors.
Can My Senior Get Palliative Care At Home and 24-Hour Home Care Services?
Yes! Your senior loved one can continue to age in place and get all the benefits of palliative care. Service providers can come to the house in many cases, and support from 24-hour home care providers makes it easier for seniors to get to any appointments they need to go to outside the house. Your senior loved one doesn’t need to be in a facility to take advantage of palliative care. And in many cases, the services provided by palliative care specialists are covered by medical insurance.
Sources: https://www.webmd.com/palliative-care/when-is-palliative-care-appropriate
https://www.nia.nih.gov/health/what-are-palliative-care-and-hospice-care
