The decision to move to end-of-life care might seem like an especially large one, especially if this is a very new type of care to you both. Learning as much as you can about it can help immensely.
Could a New Treatment Make a Difference?
Sometimes the difficulties your senior experiences could be alleviated by trying a new or different treatment for whatever is ailing her. Often these treatments are curative in nature, meaning they’re designed to try to treat the problem. Chemotherapy is an example of a curative treatment. But not all treatments may make a difference in your senior’s exact situation, so it’s important to determine how likely that new therapy is to actually make a difference for her.
If Nothing Changes, What Happens?
What might happen if your senior’s treatments and therapies don’t change at all? This is something that caregivers and family members sometimes forget to ask. It’s vital to know what the near and far future are likely to look like if everything goes along as it is right now. If nothing at all changes, does your senior experience any changes? That might influence the types of treatments she wants to try now.
Can Quality of Life Improve with Different Treatments?
Before switching treatments for your senior, it’s important to ask her medical team if these new treatments are going to improve her quality of life or not. Improving quality of life may be the most important factor at this stage of your senior’s journey, so it’s crucial to assess each decision for how it impacts quality of life.
What Does End-of-life Care Really Do?
If you and your senior aren’t fully sure what end-of-life care can do for her, it’s a good idea to do a little more digging. This type of care is often one that focuses on what your senior needs overall, not just to combat a particular health condition. End-of-life care can assist you and your senior in working with her existing medical team to come up with a more holistic care plan that addresses a variety of issues, with the focus on improving her overall quality of life.
Choosing a different type of care, like end-of-life care, can be a little bit scary for you and for your senior. But once you’ve discovered what it can do to help your senior to deal with her specific health concerns, you can make a much more educated decision.
If you or an aging parent is considering end-of-life care in Yardley, PA, please contact the caring staff at Serenity Hospice today. Call (215) 867-5405.