Helping Hands Blog

Fall brings colder weather and shorter days. Before we know it Thanksgiving will be here and we will be preparing for the busiest time of the year. These changes may be exciting to some, but for others, fall can be a difficult time. For individuals suffering from Alzheimer's or dementia, a change in the environment can be confusing, and frustrating.

The Alzheimer’s Association (AA) has reported approximately 5.8 million Americans are currently living with Alzheimer's disease. By 2050, this number could increase to nearly 14 million individuals. With these high numbers, it is important to stay informed about the best ways to care for individuals and loved ones who are living with this disease.

As we get older it isn't unusual for our hobbies, interests, and habits to change. After all, if we continued to like and do the same thing our whole lives it would become less interesting. These types of changes in our behavior can be fun, and connect us with others. When it comes to the behavioral changes associated with Sundowners Syndrome, we can find our loved ones isolating themselves and becoming more irritable than usual.

Discussing hospice can be a beneficial option at any stage of a life-limiting illness. Patients as well as their families benefit the most when they are supported by the hospice team with physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual support from their hospice team as early as possible.

Hospice Care

Hospice care is palliative by nature, meaning it provides comfort care. At the point of receiving hospice care, a patient's illness has progressed to where curative treatment is no longer desired or beneficial. Hospice care supports the patient and their families while focusing on relieving symptoms and offering comfort from pain, shortness of breath, fatigue, nausea, anxiety, insomnia or constipation.

Non-Hospice Palliative Care

By definition, non-hospice palliative care focuses on relieving symptoms that are related to chronic illnesses, such as cancer, cardiac disease, respiratory disease, kidney failure, Alzheimer’s and other dementias, AIDS, Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) and other neurological diseases.

As you can see, there are differences between non-hospice palliative care and hospice care – and yet there is a relationship between the two. Non-hospice palliative care can be used at any stage of an illness, not just the advanced stages.

Live Better with Palliative Care

Palliative care is specialized medical care for people with serious and chronic illnesses. It focuses on providing patients with relief from the symptoms, pain, and stress of a serious illness—whatever the diagnosis. The goal is to improve quality of life for both the patient and the family.

 

 

Illness raises many questions. Whether you are ill or are caring for someone who is ill, you are in a position to make important decisions. Knowing what you want and don’t want, or what they want and don’t want, will make those decisions easier.

• What kind of treatment do you want?
• Do you want to stay at home?
• Who will make decisions on your behalf if you can’t?
• What kind of services do you want to celebrate your life?

If you are considering looking into palliative care but need to know more, below is some information that can help you to decide if palliative care is right for you. There are many benefits of palliative care (comfort care) for both patients and their families.

One in four hospice patients is a veteran. And when veterans face end of life, their needs are unique to their life experiences – branch of service, military experiences in war or peace time, age and generation.

Gulfside is proud to work with the Department of Veteran Affairs as a Level Four partner of the We Honor Veterans initiative, a program of the National Hospice & Palliative Care Organization.

If you are living with a chronic illness, palliative care can help with maintaining stability, managing pain and symptoms, and giving you back control of your life. A chronic illness doesn’t have to keep you down; palliative care helps you maintain your freedom and quality of life.

So you have heard about palliative care, but are unsure of what it is. Palliative care (pronounced pal-lee-uh-tiv) is specialized medical care for people with serious and chronic illnesses. It focuses on providing patients with relief from the symptoms, pain, and stress of a serious illness—whatever the diagnosis. The goal is to improve quality of life for both the patient and the family.

This method of "comfort care" is provided by a team of doctors, nurses and other specialists who work together with a patient’s other doctors to provide an extra layer of support. It is appropriate at any age and at any stage in a serious illness. Plus, it can be provided along with curative treatment.