As disturbing as it might be to know that your loved one has reached the last days of their life. It is important to ensure that they spend that time left within the maximum comfort possible. The old adage goes, ‘no place feels like home’. Whilst care options may be available for your consideration, except where a patient’s condition requires hospitalization, it is important to provide them with private hospice care at home. Home is the place where everyone retreats for comfort and security. That makes it the best place for someone to spend the last days of their life. Unlike being in care homes or specialized hospice care facilities, being home gives them the opportunity to be in the company of family and friends at all times and provides them the kind of closure they require. There are necessary adjustments that would have to be made to ensure they receive the best care possible. If you have been wondering how you could manage that, here are things to consider when preparing for home hospice care.
Manage space
Whereas you might have been used to family members and friends as only visitors, providing private hospice care at home may require you to adjust your home design to accommodate the caregiver. In most cases, someone experiencing a terminal illness would require assistance with activities such as bathing and physical therapy. Whether the caregiver is an outsider or a family member, they would need some physical space for them to be able to do their best. Caregiving may involve the use of such medical equipment as wheelchairs which may require you to create more space in the hallways for easy movements around the house.
Manage patient’s safety
The safety of the patient and their caregiver should at all times be prioritized. That’s why you would be required to remove anything that hinders the ease of movement or may endanger the patient. It is obvious that at this stage of terminal illness the proper functionality of the patient’s body would have been compromised. Any slight disturbance by slippery floors, for instance, could make them fall. You should clear the hallways and rooms of rugs and consider installing non-slip mats in the bathrooms. Adding handrails into the hallways for support could be worth the buck and make the best of private hospice care at home. Always remember that anything that could threaten their security or induce an illusion of the same may be considered risky and should be discarded. Getting rid of obstructions will make the home environment friendlier and increase the ease and comfort of the patient.
Moderate temperatures
If adjustable room temperatures can provide luxury for a couple at a resort, no doubt it does for a patient receiving hospice care. Your air-conditioning system should be properly functioning to be able to raise the temperatures when it gets cold, or cool them down when it gets hot. For instance, high temperatures can cause skin rash which can definitely ruin the comfort of the patient. Whatever the case might be, if your air-conditioning system is out of sync with the needs of the patient, it’s time you urgently call for residential cooling repair or enlist heating repair services.
Clean environment
Provide your loved one with a healthy and safe environment by doing air quality tests and checking for mold growth. Mold testing should be done starting from their bedroom to the rest of the house. Molds can cause reactions that further complicates the health of the patient. Whilst seeking treatment in such instances could be expensive, the possibility of compromising the comfort and ease of the patient supersedes financial worries. Besides affecting the health of the patient, molds can just make the surfaces appear dirty which may be annoying to the patient especially in old age. Keeping them in such an environment may not communicate your best care for them and such a message is the least of what you want them to hear.
Be mindful of excess noise
Too much noise could be irritating for someone on a sickbed. The awareness of limited life can induce psychological stress that requires a quiet environment to ensure peace. Excess noises should be avoided at all times. Say where you previously used pianos for home entertainment purposes, you may consider plugging in earphones and listening to pre-recorded music. Too much noise from kids or quarreling family members can be bad for the patient. If you want to ensure the best private hospice care at home, you may consider keeping the noise in check.
Manage lighting
Just like excessive noise, too much brightness can be irritating to the patient and may even induce eye pain. Their bedroom should be fitted with proper lighting which should be adjusted accordingly depending on the time of day or patient preferences. If the patient intends to read, you should adjust the light depending on their eyesight. The light should also be turned off when the patient wants to nap. In the hallways and around the house, adequate lighting should always be in place to avoid the blinds and endangering the patient’s safety.
Entertainment
In most cases your loved one’s health and age can limit their movements, and sometimes they may have to spend most of their time in bed. It is important to place a television in their room for entertainment to ease their psychological pressure and leave a remote within their reach. For those with eyesight problems and find joy in music a pair of headphones can be helpful to ensure they are occupied with music most of the time and worry less. Think about a hobby they enjoy doing. Take them for a walk for fresh air. This may bring a sense of peace knowing their personal preferences in terms of entertainment can help you meet their favorite requirements and make the private home hospice care worthwhile.
Prepare for visitors
Indulging in pastimes and leisure alone may not be enough to ease the trauma and shock of staring death and months of waiting for the inevitable. Patients need emotional, psychological, and spiritual counseling to help them cope with circumstances and accept the situation. For that to be possible, you need to prepare your home for frequent visits by social workers and chaplains or lay ministers. The patient’s room should be remodeled to accommodate visitors without necessarily obstructing the patient’s movements in and out of the room. However few they may be, family members should be prepared to welcome those visitors and give them the kind of treatment that makes their time and services at offering private hospice care at home worthwhile.
Legal help
The cost of procuring assistive technology among other medical equipment is by far no less a financial burden for the family. However, social security income can be of great benefit to the patient in making sure all necessary resources are made available on time. If the patient is disabled make sure they have social security. If you encounter any complications, have social security disability lawyers assist you. Lawyers can help with reviewing and applying for social security insurance for the patient. Should they need a hospital bed with electric equipment or by any chance require hospitalization for treatment purposes, no doubt they will be covered.
Get medical supplies in order
Even though private hospice care at home isn’t about treatment, medical equipment could be necessary for assisting the patient’s movements around the home or soothing their pain. The patient may need physical therapy, a hospital bed, or prescription drugs to maximize their comfort. When you don’t have expert knowledge on the best Medicare that can cover all their medical requirements, you may consider calling Medicare Insurance Consulting Companies. They can provide you with quality advice on whether the patient needs to move from the current Medicare or not. Whatever the patient’s medical needs, getting professional advice on how to obtain them is the best option you could make use of.
Ensure timely delivery of medical equipment
When it comes to delivering medical equipment home, moving companies might be the ones you want to call. As previously mentioned, from medical equipment such as a hospital bed and geriatric chairs to remodeling equipment like rails for your hallways, you’re going to need someone to transport them for you when needed. Spending time with your loved one as a caregiver or just keeping them company is part of private hospice care at home. So the least of what you want is the stress of how to get the medical supplies when they are required. You should make sure at all times you have companies offering those services on demand.
Take care of the surroundings
Whilst a clean yard can be a health imperative, a clear yard can be a logistics one. Moving things around wouldn’t be easier for the hired service providers when you have trees or shrubs obstructing them. Although a family car could easily drive in, certain yard conditions may not be conducive for a big van to move in smoothly. Besides, the kind of fragrance exuded by the trees in your yard may not be friendly for the patient. In such cases, you might want to hire tree removal services for logistical reasons and your patient’s convenience. Just as physical trees may obstruct moving-in traffic, physiologically they may cause allergic reactions on the patient. Sneezing rhymes far from comfort and when their comfort is your priority, anything inducing discomfort is by no means welcome. For the best private hospice care at home nothing should be too small to escape your attention.
Ensure your patient’s privacy
Whilst not everyone cares much about privacy, for most people it is necessary for personal respite. When providing private home hospice care services, it is necessary to ensure that the patient enjoys a degree of privacy based on personal preferences. Privacy can be useful in ensuring closure. What you can do to ensure that a significant amount of privacy has been made available is putting in place curtains and screens to give them sufficient time away from the day’s hustles. Everybody deserves space and for someone not in their best moments of life, they might need it more.
Mind your wall hangings
The space around you communicates more than you might realize. Visuals may take a patient’s attention, influence their thinking patterns and psychological health. That’s why you should ensure that the living space of your loved one receiving private hospice care at home is decorated with their favorite colors and artifacts. Their favorite pictures of themselves or a painting of Jesus if they’re Christian can provide the kind of solace they require. For those who may have to spend almost all the time in bed, their room can control their mood depending on the kind of messages the environment is portraying. For greater peace of mind, the walls should be communicating peace.
Keep records
Record keeping varies from doctors’ prescriptions to a personal book collection. For medical purposes keeping the recommended list of pharmaceuticals can be helpful in ensuring that medicine has been administered on time. The patient can also require personal documents to help them in estate planning. When getting services from estate attorneys their property documents should always be readily available.
When considering care options for a terminally ill patient it is important to know what private hospice care at home does for your family and loved ones. It can help them develop a sense of fulfillment, make them happier, and even live longer than they would have expected. The kind of family bond it brings can be enough to motivate canceling any existing cremation arrangements in favor of a normal burial to maintain closure.