The idea of a hospice care can be very challenging for the family of the patient. After days, months or even years of treatment to cure the patient with the affliction, nothing happens. The idea of a hospice care comes when the hope seemed to be lost in curing the patients and all they could do is wait for the individual to pass through life as naturally and painless as possible. Entertaining the idea of getting a hospice care means the family has already accepted the fate which could give emotional pain for the family. Thus, instead of giving false hope to the family and the patient, hospice care will prepare them psychologically and physically for the things to come.
The main role of hospice care is to take care of the final moments of the dying, either at the comforts of the home of the family or in a facility that offers these kinds of services. Such care can never be confined in a certain location but the idea could be everywhere. Depending on the situation of the patient, the family could choose where to let the patient stay.
In taking care of the patient, hospice will make sure the patient is comfortable as possible. Simple needs should be looked at carefully and attentions to detailed requests are often granted as long as they are within the realms of caring for the patient. The hospice doesn’t treat the patient’s ailments, but it will instead make sure that the pain could go away or at least become manageable for the patient. Since all aggressive forms of treatment will do nothing to the ailment of the patient, hospice will just look into the pains of the individual and make sure they are treated or managed in every way.
Not only are the physical pains treated in hospice care. In the face of death, there are various pains that will be experienced not only by the individual but by the family as well. Aside from physical treatment, there are spiritual and psychological treatments being offered in most hospice care facilities. These counselors will help the family in their psychological struggle in accepting the fate of their loved one. They can also help the dying to understand the situation and possibly prepare them spiritually. It’s the idea of integration of the pain to the psychological and spiritual healing of the family and the patient are goal of the hospice. Combining pain treatment and psychological preparation of the family is very beneficial for both the family and the patient in preparation of the inevitable.
Before going into hospice care, it’s always important to talk to all members of the family regarding this type of treatment. Since hospice care means you have already accepted the fate of your loved one, it will give emotional pains to the close relatives and even to the patient. With the help of hospice care, the preparation will be easier and will give the family more time to be with the patient instead of spending more time in looking for cures when there’s really none.
Disclaimer: this post is the opinion and analysis of Breakthrough Digest, and should in no way be construed to be medical advice.
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What an interesting subject matter. Sheila van ohlen
Comment by sheila van ohlen — April 15, 2008 @ 6:22 am