The goal of Palliative Care is to make you more comfortable, It can be adjunct to curative treatment but is not focused on curing the body from the disease. Instead it is targeted comfort during the treatment with whatever pain you may be experiencing.
Hospice care is focused support for those who have life limiting illness or disease, with a life expectancy of six months or less either in a residential hospice environment or hospice in the home.
Our mindful Palliative and Hospice care emphasis is on managing pain and improving quality of life in your own home. This Mindful Caregiving approach has two main components;
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1.) How we train our team to have self knowledge and emotional resiliency to be supportive and present even through the most difficult moments.
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2.) How our care brings in the context of the full experience of life. It is not only the pain or absence of pain but it is the presence of meaning, love, companionship, and joy. That is something the medical model is not designed to address. Through our approach we bring meaning through the meals we prepare, the care we provide, the peace we assist a family with, the garden we tend for you, the flowers we arrange, whatever it is that resonates with each client.
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After caring for your loved one for many months or years, the prospect of hospice care can be devastating, you also have the choice to hospice or palliative care at home. However, it is important to engage with a hospice company at the right time for information and support to ensure you make an educated decision. The entire family can benefit from hospice services and the understanding they create as you travel through a traumatic transition period. Hospice services work hand in hand with those who provide care for loved ones at home.
When caregivers feel most vulnerable hospice enters with a powerful team of multidisciplinary professionals who provide strength and understanding. Teams include physicians, nurses, therapists, skilled home health aides, social workers, spiritual & bereavement counsellors. It is a focus on caring not curing.
We understand the time, compassion and commitment that you have dedicated to caring for your loved one. Once you enter the hospice phase you are never alone, hospice delivers the best care for everyone involved.
6 Palliative & Hospice tips you WANT to know
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Early conversations are critical to soothe family stress.
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Asking doesn't impede care; inquiring about palliative or hospice will not impact the quality of continuing care.
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Palliative care isn't just for physical pain; feeling emotionally overwhelmed or prolonged discomfort can trigger requests for help.
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Hospice doesn't mean the end of it all; some care stabilizes or even improves in hospice.
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Palliative care and treatment can coexist; research shows cancer patients who received palliative care score higher on mood & quality of life than those who do not.
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Improve all aspects of life; palliative care focuses on pain management and lessening of symptoms, improving quality of life.
Caregiver's Need to Know
PLAN AHEAD
It is important for families to begin setting up arrangements for care before it becomes an absolute necessity. Prepare ahead so you are not forced into a reactive position during a medical crisis, include analysis for long-term care options, both home based and residential community based.
Ensure all your documents are in order;
https://www.alberta.ca/wills-in-alberta.aspx
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Will - There are lawyers available who will come to your place of residence.
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Power of Attorney & Enduring Power of Attorney - it’s important to think about what you would want to happen if you were no longer able to make personal or financial decisions before you die. Such as dementia, NPH or any situation in which you continue to live but are determined to legally not have enough cognitive function to make your own decisions.
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(word of caution; Sadly real abuses of power can be at their peak during these difficult times (in particular when there is more than one marriage in your past), so think ahead, ask yourself hard questions for whom you can trust as your agent. Consulting a professional could help keep life calm during your final stages.)
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Personal Directive - a legal document that allows you to appoint someone to make decisions for you if, due to illness or injury, you no longer have the capacity to make personal decisions. In Alberta you can get your personal directive registered so doctors and hospitals know what you want.
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End of life Plan - includes long term decisions in order to live, and die at home, or plans to relocate to assisted living when appropriate.
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