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Carrolltown Hospice Care Services Available For Consideration

By Gannon G. Hollick


The diagnosis of a terminal illness is, in most cases, very shocking to many patients and their relatives. Many equate such a diagnosis to death and begin to despair. While the primary disease may be incurable, there are associated symptoms that can be managed. If you are living in carrolltown hospice care services may ease the burden of having to take care of the increasingly dependent relative and as well as make sure that they get the best medical care available.

The main role of a hospice is to make sure that patients are as comfortable as possible during their twilight days. The treatment that is provided should be focused on managing pain and any other unpleasant symptoms. One should bear in mind that many of them have to make important personal and family decisions at this time hence should be free from mental and physical stresses that may make this process difficult.

There are a number of different arrangements that you can consider. These include home-based care, inpatient care in a healthcare facility or a mixture of both. The choice is determined by a number of factors that include, the stage and type of the illness, distance from a hospital (in case of an emergency) and availability of care givers at home. Advanced and complicated cases should ideally be monitored closely in hospital.

Many of these facilities have a program that manages of spiritual health for their patients. This is important because persons whose time in the world is coming to an end have many questions related to life and whether or not there is an afterlife. With science providing very little in credible solutions, religion remains the only source of hope at this point. Regular visits by religious leaders, use of literature and engagement in fellowships are some of the ways of engaging patients.

A successful program requires that the family of the patient be actively involved. The meetings are usually led by the primary healthcare provider who may either be a doctor or nurse. They update the family on how their patient is responding and suggest ways in which treatment can be improved. The meetings also make it possible for each member of the family to express themselves about the illness.

Cancer treatment is usually intensive and requires a number of varied specialties. There is a need to have a multidisciplinary team that sees the patient on a daily basis to address various aspects of treatment. Some of the members of this team include the doctor, the inpatient facility involved in admissions, the pharmacist, the clergy and so on. This kind of coordination is best done within a hospice since most if not all the specialists needed are available.

Respite care can be provided by a hospice when needed. What this means is that for a period of time (usually a couple of days), the duty of taking care of the patient is taken up entirely by the hospice team and the family gets time off. This allows them to travel for a vacation or special event.

In the fullness of time it all comes to an end and we have to face death. An ideal hospice should help relatives plan for this eventuality. This may be done by including a funeral director in the management process when death is imminent. Clergy members or professional guidelines can also be contracted to provide their services to the patient and the relatives.




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