Aging Society

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Articles, advice and tips from Senior Care experts in Dallas Texas. 

Knowing When The Time is Right for Hospice Care

If you’re utilizing in home health care services or taking care of a loved one yourself, who has a chronic medical condition, one of the toughest questions you will face is when it’s time to let go and say good-bye. It’s a decision fraught with numerous emotions including sadness, guilt, and even relief. Because it’s such an emotionally charged issue, it’s hard to know when it’s time to seek out hospice care.

Hospice care vows to neither prolong nor hasten death. Hospice workers strive to provide the utmost dignity and comfort for a person while allowing death to occur naturally. Hospice can ease the physical end-of-life transition, while providing caregivers with the support they need to deal with the transition.

Because there is so much emotion around this issue, it’s good to have some objective guidelines that will help you know when the time is right.

Here are some signs that indicate it may be time for Hospice care:

• The disease has progressed to the point that treatments are no longer working and, perhaps, causing even more pain that the disease itself.
• You or your loved one has consciously chosen to stop all treatment and hospitalizations, resulting in a further decline in health and well-being.
• Many people near the end of their lives know it and are ready to let go. If you have a loved one who says, “I’m ready to go,” or “I’m ready for Hospice,” take them at their word.

When my father was near the end, he knew it. He fell at home during the night and immediately said to my mom, “Take me to Hospice.” However, she wasn’t ready to let go, so took him to the hospital, where he had a really bad night. The next day, he went to Hospice. Five hours later, he was gone.

It also helps to have the discussion about hospice care before it’s necessary. Having an honest and open conversation about end-of-life care will help make is easier for everyone involved when it becomes apparent that hospice care is appropriate. It is also helps to take to a hospice professional to get their input and advice. Hospice workers are highly trained in knowing what’s needed, what’s coming and how to best prepare both the patient and their loved ones for the transition. In my father’s case, the people taking care of my father told us almost to the minute how much longer he had. This made dealing with his death – and everything that needed to be done surrounding it – much easier.

Deciding when “the time is right” is never easy. Keep the lines of communication open with your loved one, and when they mention it might be time to consider hospice, take them at their word and make the call – and then trust the highly trained and compassionate hospice workers to help you with whatever comes next.

Your income care provider and their support team is one of the best resources you have around this difficult conversation. If you are in the Dallas Fort Worth Metroplex, we highly recommend Care Mountain! Care Mountain is a full service provider focused on delivering compassionate, patient centric, evidence based home health and in home care.  Their service includes: hourly care, 24/7 care, live in care, skilled nursing, physical therapy, occupational therapy, speech therapy, infusion therapy. Care Mountain’s Dallas in home health care includes specializations in dementia and Alzheimer’s.

Assisted Living

Versus Skilled Nursing

Do you know the difference between Assisted Living and Skilled Nursing Care?

Many families, sooner or later, will find themselves standing beside the hospital bed of a parent. At that time, a social worker or case manager might approach you and your mom or dad about needing skilled nursing or assisted living care. Most of us know very little about the differences between the two. Moreover, we usually have our minds set on getting them back home….and back to normal.                                              

“Normal”, may mean a team of medical professionals, prescriptions that require monitoring, special diets and rehabilitation for a period of days, weeks or months; or it may necessitate a respite stay in an assisted living community in order to prevent a decline in their condition.

Therefore, this may be more about a healing process rather than a geographical location. In particular, assisted living provides meals, tailored levels of care, medication management, housekeeping, security, transportation and daily activities. In addition to the amenities available in an assisted living community, nursing homes provide 24 hour skilled care as well as physical, occupational and speech therapy programs.

Do you know your financial options?

Usually, Long term care insurance and Veteran’s Aid & Attendance will cover a majority of costs in an assisted living community. Whereas, Medicare or Medicaid will reimburse the facility for majority of the charges in a nursing home. 

Have you evaluated all of your options?

Isolation can be dangerous to the elderly and infirmed. Research shows, people don’t prepare as many nutritious meals when they are alone and the potential for falls is greater. Furthermore, spouses and children become vulnerable to resentment, exhaustion and illness when caring for a debilitated relative.

Specifically, good intentions for your husband, wife or parent may translate into creating an at-risk situation at home for all involved. It is important to know that recidivism, or re-admission to the hospital, is more common in those who insist on going straight home after an emergency event or surgery.

A Ray of Hope

As a ray of hope, nursing homes have changed for the better; and beautiful assisted living communities are cropping up all over the country. At Emeritus, we pride ourselves on continuity of care and offer Independent & Assisted Living along with Memory care and Skilled Nursing. Our professionals are available to answer your questions, day or night. Please reach out and let us show you all of the options available to enhance the quality of life and health for someone you love.

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Alzheimer’s disease is a type of dementia, a condition in which memory loss and other intellectual handicaps begin to severely interfere with daily life. Alzheimer’s is most common among the senior population, though early onset Alzheimer’s is possible. There’s currently no cure for the disease, though treatments are available to provide temporary relief and prevent short-term worsening of symptoms.

A diagnosis of Alzheimer’s can be stressful for not only the patient, but for caregivers as well. Because of this, it’s important for seniors and caregivers to be able to recognize the warning signs, and for loved ones to recognize the challenges of caring for a parent with Alzheimer’s and learn how to be strong caregivers.