Palliative care is for people living with a terminal illness where a cure is no longer possible and who are in the last weeks, months or years of their life. End of life care aims to allow people to live as well as possible and to pass away with dignity. A care provider can help support the client’s family and other people who are important to the client during this time.
How home palliative care can help
Many terminally ill patients wish to spend their final few weeks or months in their own home and home carers enable this to happen. Your loved one can receive end of life care tailored to their needs and preferences in their own home from a suitable care provider.
End of life care aims to make your loved one as comfortable as possible by managing pain and other distressing symptoms. This is a holistic approach, providing physical, psychological, social, and spiritual support for your loved one and your family. Care can be provided by specially trained persons in palliative medicine, specialist palliative care nurses or specialist palliative occupational therapists and physiotherapists, with whom your care provider can work alongside. It is always important to consult with your doctors and nurses when implementing this plan.
SuperCarers can connect you with care providers many of whom will have palliative care experience through working with terminally ill clients before. They should work alongside the rest of your multidisciplinary team to maintain client comfort and dignity throughout these latter stages of life.
Questions to ask
If you think your loved one may need palliative home care, you may want to ask some of the following questions:
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Does your loved one have a terminal diagnosis and need palliative care?
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Does your loved one wish to stay in their home whilst receiving palliative care?
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What are your loved one’s particular care needs?
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What treatment or therapeutic intervention are they currently receiving?
