Caring for someone that you love as they near the end of their life is a complicated time full of emotions. Knowing that there are tools that can help you to navigate that time more easily is so important.
Find Help with the Hands-on Aspects of Caregiving
Your elderly family member’s medical team is there to help, but you may find that you need more help than that. That’s especially true when you’re talking about the daily hands-on aspects of caring for someone at the end of life. End-of-life care providers can offer the assistance that you need, particularly with the aspects of care that you’re not sure how to handle at all.
Know that Making Decisions Isn’t Easy, but You Can Find Help
It’s never easy to make decisions about someone else’s care. And if you and your elderly family member didn’t get a chance to really talk about her wants at the end of her life, that can feel even more overwhelming to you. End-of-life care providers can help with this, too, but putting you in touch with agencies and groups that can help.
Learn Little Ways to Offer Comfort and Support
Often all that you can really do when your senior is getting closer to the end of her life is to support her and offer her what comfort you can. Offering her ice chips or water to help her stay hydrated or offering small servings of favorite foods that are easy for her to eat can help her to be more comfortable. There are other things you can do as well, like helping her to change positions when necessary or helping her to stay warm.
Don’t Forget to Care for Yourself and Your Own Needs
It’s also important that you don’t forget to take care of your own needs while you’re caring for your senior. Remember that you need to rest and to eat healthy foods. Let other people step in so that you can take breaks. That can feel difficult, too, but in different ways than all the other things you’re doing. But if you neglect yourself, that’s going to make it even harder for you to do things for your senior.
Keeping up with your elderly family member’s needs as she gets even closer to the end of her life is so much easier to do with experienced help. Letting end-of-life care providers assist however they can frees up your time and energy to help in other ways.
If you or an aging loved-one is considering End of Life Care contact the caring staff at Arcy Healthcare today. 469-293-1515
My name is Jimmie Stapleton. I am the founder and CEO of Arcy Healthcare. Arcy Healthcare includes Arcy Hospice, Arcy Supportive Care, MaximaCare Home Health and Arcy at Home.
Arcy Hospice was opened in 2007 to provide care and support for individuals and families facing a life limiting illness. It was established after my wife Ellen, who had been diagnosed with breast cancer, had completed her chemo and radiation therapies. At that time, things were looking positive, and we wanted to do something for our community that had been so supportive of our family during her treatments. Unfortunately, the cancer returned a few years later, and she subsequently passed away under our care in 2010.
In the years that followed, I began to see the need to provide the same level of excellent care to patients across the continuum of care. Therefore, we have added a home health division (MaximaCare Home Health), a palliative care division (Arcy Supportive Care), and a home care division, (Arcy at Home). With the addition of these divisions, we can meet most of the post-acute care needs for you and your family in your home.
I started Arcy Hospice with my wife as my motivation to provide exceptional care and support in the patient’s home, where they are surrounded by family and where they feel most comfortable. I’m proud to say that our staff provides some of the best in home care in the Dallas-Ft. Worth area.
Please let us know if we can enrich the quality of life for you or a loved one.
Sincerely,
Jimmie Stapleton – Founder and CEO
Arcy Healthcare
- Social Interaction and Senior Home Care - November 20, 2024
- Recognizing the Common Symptoms of Laryngeal Cancer - November 6, 2024
- Why a Senior Pet Might be Perfect for Your Senior - October 16, 2024
