Senior Care Blog

Four Emotional End-of-life Signals

It’s so difficult to know that your senior is transitioning to the end of her life. Knowing the signs can help you to stay present with her.
Hospice Care in Lewisville, TX: End of Life Signals
Hospice Care in Lewisville, TX: End of Life Signals

The end of your senior’s life is a complicated time. There are a great many physical signs she may exhibit when the end gets closer, but there are emotional signals, too. 

Withdrawing or Appearing Unresponsive 

As your elderly family member nears the end of her life, she may be sleeping more due to physical exhaustion. She’s also taking in far fewer calories than she used to take in, which leaves her with a lot less excess energy to expend. But withdrawing from you and other family members or appearing to be less responsive isn’t just a physical response. It’s also an emotional detachment. The best way to respond is to continue to be there with your senior in the ways that you can be and let her know you care about her. 

Restlessness and Repetitive Behaviors 

Repetitive actions and restlessness are also common for people nearing the ends of their lives, and this is both physical and emotional. It’s difficult to fully let go of the physical, and that’s part of what your senior is doing. It can help to find ways to distract your senior, with favorite shows or with gentle conversation. 

Having Visions or “Visitations” 

Very often people who are near the end of their life will mention that they’ve been visited by people who died years ago. Your senior may tell you about a conversation she had with this person or she may just describe what she saw. These visions are very common and there’s no way to disprove what your elderly family member is seeing and hearing. It’s much better to reaffirm what your senior is experiencing and comfort her if she seems nervous or afraid of these visions. 

Saying Goodbye 

It can be upsetting for your senior to start telling you goodbye, especially if you’re not ready for her to go. This is an important part of the process of letting go, particularly for your elderly family member. This is a way that she can say what she still has to say, whether what she wants to do is thank you, remind you that she loves you, or just make sure that she is able to say goodbye before she’s unable to do so. 

Your elderly family member might experience some or all of these at some point. It can be daunting to know how to reply and what to do. Working with hospice care providers can help, because they’ve been there and they can help you to know what to do next while also ensuring that your senior is physically getting the care that she needs. 

If you or an aging loved-one is considering Hospice Care in and around Lewisville, TX please contact the caring staff at Arcy Healthcare today. 469-293-1515 

Jimmie Stapleton

Recent Posts

Categories

Contact Us About Home Care

Skip to content