Making the transition from curative treatments and care to end-of-life care that focuses more on your family member’s comfort may seem like you’re giving up. In reality, it’s about making the most of the time that your family member has left with you and the other people that she cares about.

Chronic Health Conditions Aren’t Responding to Treatments

At a certain stage, which is different for every patient, treatments for health conditions may simply no longer be effective. This can happen with all sorts of health issues from heart disease to cancer and it’s possibly a disconcerting development for everyone involved. When treatments aren’t providing results, it may feel like a waste of energy to continue them. This can especially be true when your senior has to spend time in hospitals and doctor’s offices to get these treatments.

Further Treatments Aren’t Wanted

For some ailing family members, any progress is good progress. But if your family member is tired of treatments that aren’t improving her life as much as she’d like, she may decide that she no longer wants to go through those treatments. She may change her mind again later, but for now, symptom management may be more crucial. It’s about what your family member needs and wants during this time.

Quality of Life Is Suffering

One of the biggest problems associated with complex treatments, like chemotherapy, is that those treatments often have some serious side effects that go along with them. Those side effects can dramatically impinge on quality of life, leaving your family member in a situation that feels worse than the ailment itself. Stopping treatments can help her to improve her quality of life so that she can enjoy the time that she has left.

Daily Activities Are More Difficult than Ever

When just the normal activities of daily living are becoming more and more difficult, that’s a true trial for your family member. Removing the added difficulty of treatments and procedures that are taxing her even more can allow your family member to relax a bit. Hospice elder care providers can help you to learn new techniques to help make daily activities easier for everyone involved, too.

Hospice elder care providers can help you and your family member to map out a treatment plan that meets her needs without making her life more difficult. treating symptoms and keeping her comfortable are the cornerstones of this stage of her treatment.

If you or an aging parent are considering hospice elder care in Easton, PA, please contact the caring staff at Serenity Hospice today. Call (215) 867-5405.