You and your senior family member may decide that you no longer want to pursue some treatments for health conditions, but that doesn’t mean that care stops. She still needs your assistance as well as help from end-of-life care providers who can guide you both through this difficult time.

Care Continues and No One Is Giving Up

One of the misconceptions about end-of-life care is that it’s a form of giving up. This is especially the case when your elderly family member opts out of some treatments that she was getting for her health conditions. Other family members may see this as letting go. What actually happens is that your elderly family member’s care continues, often the same way that it was before but with only minor changes.

Quality of Life Is the Focus

Most of those minor changes involve shifting the focus from curing a health condition or managing it in a specific way to simply dealing with quality of life issues. So, instead of more elaborate treatments, your aging adult and her medical team might decide to focus on individual symptoms and managing those in the best ways possible.

This Is Comprehensive Care

While the care you’re putting in place is primarily for your elderly family member, there is help available for your entire family. This is a difficult situation to be in and as such there is medical treatment but also psychological and social treatments for other members of the family. You’re all in this together, so it’s important to make sure that every need connected to your aging adult’s situation is met.

This Time Is Different for Everyone

This phase of your caregiving journey is different for everyone involved. Your elderly family member won’t necessarily display the exact same symptoms as other people who have her same health conditions. This means that your elderly family member’s care at this time is going to be personalized for her. You, her care team, and her medical team will all work together to make sure that you’ve got all the bases covered.

Talk with your aging adult’s end-of-life care providers to get a full understanding of what they can do for you and your entire family.

If you or an aging loved-one are considering end-of-life care in Upper Darby, PA, please contact the caring staff at Serenity Hospice today. Call (215) 867-5405.