Ways to Preserve Patient Autonomy

Autonomy, or the ability to make our own decisions, is one of the things that many patients worry about losing as they enter hospice care.

But one of the aims of hospice care is to preserve patient autonomy as much as possible. Indeed, entering hospice may help a patient to maximize the control they have over their life for the remainder of its duration. Here are some ways that hospice workers and caregivers can work together to preserve patient autonomy.

1. Provide comprehensive information. In order for a patient to be able to consent to a treatment, they need to be able to provide informed consent. That means that one of the first steps in ensuring patients are able to exercise autonomy is making sure that they and their caregivers receive thorough information with which to make their decisions.
2. Maximize autonomy with treatments. Hospice care helps to alleviate pain while increasing function through medical treatments, physical therapy, and more. By providing these services, hospice helps patients to do more on their own, retaining more autonomy and quality of life.
3. Use interpreters if necessary. If the patient’s language is not spoken by any members of the staff, a crucial step in ensuring patient autonomy is to have an interpreter present. This can either be a member of the family, a friend, or a professional.
4. Communicate as equals. For autonomy to be preserved, it helps for healthcare workers and caregivers to speak with patients as equals at all times. Healthcare workers in particular can forget that while they may have more knowledge of medicine than the patient, they work for the patient. In addition, the patient knows more in many respects about their own body. Communicating as equals helps the patient feel safe to express their wishes. It also reminds healthcare workers to listen to and respect those wishes.
5. Respect the patient’s expressed wishes. The most important thing is for patients and caregivers to remember that the only way to preserve the patient’s autonomy is to respect the patient’s wishes. There may be times when wishes are unclear or impossible, but in many cases, the patient’s needs can be met. If there are concerns that the patient may no longer be able to express their wishes in the future, the hospice staff and the patient’s caregiver can work with them to help prepare a living will. If the caregiver is not yet legally the patient’s health care representative, steps should be taken to cement this relationship, so that the caregiver can speak for the patient when the patient can no longer do so on their own.

Find Out How Golden Rule Hospice Can Help

Golden Rule Hospice works hard to make sure that the autonomy of patients can be exercised as much as possible during their final months of life.

To learn more about our services and approach, please give us a call at (470) 395-6567. We support patients and their loved ones throughout Atlanta.