Hospice Emotional Support And Spiritual Care In Town of Danville, California
Hospice care can help your loved one deal with the symptoms and physical pain of a terminal illness. But what about the mental and spiritual agony they’re going through as their life comes to an end, which they may be experiencing in silence? Hospice care pioneer Dame Cicely Saunders famously observed, “Spiritual care is not an optional addition for the dying. The spiritual part of end-of-life care is a critical component.
We produced this position statement to underline the need of spiritual care for those who are nearing the end of their lives, when emotional and spiritual support are especially critical. This position statements.
Melodia Care can help your loved one’s spirit, regardless of their religious beliefs or practices.
Many people fear that they are not offering enough support or doing the right things for a loved one who is getting hospice care. Is there a clear response to the question, “How can I begin helping during hospice?”? There are several variables to consider when it comes to helping a patient in hospice, including the patient’s health, the level of support required and the care being offered.
However, there are a few things you may do to aid your loved one while they are receiving hospice care. There are four main areas in which persons who are dying need assistance, according to the National Institute on Aging: physical well-being, mental and emotional needs (such as grief and loss), spiritual needs (such as prayer) and practical activities.
Emotional Care
A patient who is nearing the end of his or her life has a tendency to dwell on his or her thoughts. When this happens, people often look back on their lives and wish they could go back and alter things. As a result, a patient’s quality of life will be drastically reduced for the rest of his or her life.
Patients’ concerns and tales can be heard by hospice social workers. They’ll do everything they can to respond to every problem with kindness and consideration. Family caregivers, on the other hand, typically repress their own feelings of despair and anxiety in order to prevent further disturbing their loved ones. People are in need of aid in these challenging times.
Spiritual Care
Patients’ minds inevitably go to questions of what happens after death. In particular, those who have never had a favorable religious experience may get alarmed. Although everyone has the right to their own opinions, there will be those who disagree with them throughout the duration of this debate. Their stories need to be listened to by qualified counsellors. Veterans, in particular, are prone to second-guessing their decisions made while serving in combat. They had to deal with a lot of unpleasant experiences. Many veterans find it difficult to comprehend how these sensations might be linked to spirituality.
As a terminal illness affects both the patient and their loved ones, it may be a demoralizing experience. It can have a negative effect on one’s mental, emotional, and spiritual health. Hospice care focuses on the health and well-being of the patients and their loved ones, as well. When a terminal diagnosis is confirmed, a wide range of emotions, such as rage and sadness, are likely to surface. The patient’s whole health is taken into consideration when hospice care is engaged.
Physical Comfort
A person’s quality of life can be improved even if they are towards the end of their life. A wide range of issues can lead to discomfort. Depending on the cause, loved ones or a healthcare provider may be able to do anything. Pain, for example, can make a terminally sick person feel uneasy. As a result, families must be well-informed on pain management and must ensure that patients tell their caretakers when they are in pain. Caregivers may not spend enough time at home with patients to monitor their pain levels, so it’s important for family members to be aware of this reality. By alerting a caregiver to any pain-related complaints that the patient may be making in their absence, family members can assist.
Also, a patient may be hesitant to speak out for themselves because they are afraid of offending their caretakers. Family members must work together with the patient to voice any pain management needs. Make sure that the patient expresses any concerns, not only about symptom-based discomfort but also about comfort issues, such as temperature in the room, food, or the posture of one’s mattress.
A major difficulty in hospice care can be avoided by actively monitoring and talking with caregivers about pain control. In recent national research, more than one-eighth of the relatives of patients in home hospices felt that the patient was not receiving adequate pain relief. These issues become even more important when a person nears the end of his or her life. Dyspnea, or difficult breathing, affects up to 70 percent of patients in the final weeks of life. Both the sufferer and his or her loved ones may find this upsetting. Over 26% of families who recently used home hospice services felt that their loved one’s dyspnea was poorly managed. So, advocating for a patient and making sure that the caregiver and patient communicate frequently can accomplish a great deal in resolving possible issues and ensuring patient comfort.
Mental And Emotional Needs
Patients’ loved ones can only provide emotional support because most hospice care is offered away from their own homes. Hospice caregivers, on the other hand, are responsible for the majority of the patient’s physical needs throughout their stay. In some situations, a patient’s loved one will be able to provide more than just emotional support to the patient.
It is impossible to overestimate the significance of receiving enough emotional support, regardless of the situation. Anyone who has lost a loved one to terminal illness knows what a wide range of feelings they will be dealing with, including hopelessness and worry. Especially in the final phases of a patient’s disease, these feelings may be heightened due to the patient’s lack of control or uncertainty. Support from close friends and family members can go a long way at times like these. This might be as easy as talking about something unrelated to the current circumstance, such as how you feel, or it can be more complex.
If you’re close to death, you’re likely to feel anxious and depressed for a variety of reasons, such as a dread of losing loved ones or concerns about how your affairs will be handled when you die. An open ear and a listening heart are the best gifts a loved one can provide to a terminally sick individual in this situation. Practical considerations like who will take care of the person’s final affairs or who will take care of the surviving family members may cause worry in some circumstances.
Never isolate a patient when it comes to their mental and emotional well-being. Refusing to see a terminally ill loved one may be a normal reaction among well-intentioned family members who have already began the grieving process. Some people prefer to remember their loved ones while they are still healthy, rather than when they are dying.
Families and friends should be urged to make as many visits as possible to those they care about. While these visits can take the shape of a normal visit, they can also be utilized as a method to share happy memories with the patient’s loved ones, which can help alleviate worry and despair as well as bring comfort to the patient’s loved ones when they are close to death. If the patient is unconscious, visits may still be beneficial to the patient because some medical research reveals that an unconscious patient may still benefit from conversations surrounding them and may even be able to hear. This means that reminiscing over old times is never too late.
Spiritual Needs
For some people, the spiritual component of death may be the most significant concern. As a result, a patient’s spiritual well-being can play a crucial role in the hospice care they get. A person’s spiritual requirements may be just as significant as their physical ones when they are nearing the end of their lives. An easy way to assist someone with their spiritual needs is to encourage them to talk to their loved ones about what they mean to them in their lives.
Making a patient feel spiritually at ease is difficult because there is no set procedure to follow. The patient should decide how much spiritual help he or she needs. People who are profoundly religious may feel better at ease talking to a member of their own faith group (such as a minister, priest, rabbi, or imam). Also, reading religious literature or listening to religious music can provide a sense of peace. Other times, simply talking with a buddy or sitting in silence can suffice. While faith can provide a sense of security, it is equally vital to recognize that spirituality can be a highly personal and private topic that a person chooses to focus on their own.
Practical Tasks
When it comes to estate planning or arranging a loved one’s final affairs, there are a lot of practical responsibilities and loose ends that need to be tied up. The thought of putting a financial or emotional burden on the people you care about after you pass away can be upsetting or frightening for those who are used to taking care of their own affairs all their lives.
Even though a terminally sick person has typical worries, the guilt of not being able to assist or locate someone to aid can exacerbate those worries, especially if overworked carers themselves are unable to help. The smallest acts of assistance, such as picking up after yourself around the house or helping with larger tasks like gathering papers or making a to-do list, can go a long way. In addition, reassuring a loved one that their personal affairs are in good hands can be comforting.
Helping During Hospice
In the face of a terminal disease, many people feel compelled to support their loved ones. Especially if the patient is getting hospice care at home, there are various possibilities to assist. Loved ones can contribute even if they are not directly aiding the patient by assisting other loved ones or caregivers in caring for the individual getting hospice care. While hospice care is being provided to an individual at home or in an assisted living facility, volunteers can still help by providing support or even offering to give those who spend long hours with a loved one a break. Asking if there is anything you can do to help the patient or people around them at this difficult time will be immensely appreciated. Reach out to Melodia care Hospice by phone or online to learn more about how you can provide a hand during your time in hospice.
You can reach us at any time of day or night by contacting us through our 24/7 online customer support chat or by calling 1-888 635-6347 (MELODI-7).