When your loved one has dementia and has received a six-month terminal diagnosis, they will be eligible for hospice care. By the time this happens, they may be having difficulty walking or speaking, may show a lot of anxiety, or may no longer be able to take care of themselves at all.

Hospice is provided mostly at the patient’s own home and can do a lot to help patients with dementia and their caregivers. Here are some of the benefits of your loved one starting hospice care.

1. Care for complications of dementia. There is a link between dementia and increased pain. Dementia can also lead to complications such as injuries, infections, malnutrition and insomnia. Hospice workers can provide hospice care for the symptoms of dementia and complications of the disease, increasing your loved one’s comfort.
2. Daily life assistance. Right now, you probably are the one providing most of the daily assistance your loved one needs. When your loved one enters hospice care, an experienced and dedicated staff can contribute to daily life assistance.
3. Safety. Dementia patients who can walk may be prone to wandering off. They may also be more prone to slips, falls and injuries. Hospice staff can give helpful information to increase your loved one’s safety.
4. Company for your loved one. Staff and volunteer can help keep your loved one with company. This can be very important for the wellbeing of dementia patients.
5. Emotional and psychological support. It is common for dementia patients to experience heightened anxiety as well as depression. Hospice provides care not just for the body, but also for the mind. We can provide the support that your loved one needs to feel calmer throughout the day.
6. Relief for primary caregivers. Caring for a patient with dementia involves a lot of work and can be physically and emotionally taxing. As the dementia progresses and the patient loses more and more function, caregivers’ risk for burnout increases.

Hospice helps to relieve some of the burden on caregivers, making daily care for the patient easier and more manageable. Caregivers who need a break can also avail themselves of respite care. During respite care, the patient is placed in an inpatient facility for up to 5 consecutive days. Caregivers can then take those days to rest and recharge or catch up on other obligations.

Simply knowing you are no longer alone in providing care to your loved one can also provide some relief. Further, hospice gives counseling to family and friends of patients as well as patients themselves. So, that is yet another way we can support you.

Find Out How We Can Help Your Loved One

To learn all of the ways we can help your loved one with dementia to experience less pain and more comfort and dignity during the end-of-life period, please give us a call at (470) 395-6567. We care for dementia patients and their families throughout the Atlanta area.

Hospice inevitably involves grief. Whether you are losing someone you love or you are the one approaching the end of your own life, you will be working through a challenging emotional reality.

Grief can be confusing and scary, especially if this is your first big loss. Below are some things that are helpful to know.

1. Grief can start before a loss. Many people assume grief begins after someone dies. But it can start well before someone dies. This is called “anticipatory grief.” One can even grieve one’s own end of life.
2. Everyone experiences and processes grief differently. Grief is a deeply individual experience, even though there are some common themes. There is no “right” or “wrong” way to experience it or cope with it.
3. Guilt can accompany grief. Many people are caught off guard by sudden feelings of guilt when someone dies. They may worry they did not do enough, or struggle with unresolved matters from earlier in the relationship. This is a normal reaction to death, and there are ways one can ease or release the guilt they may feel.
4. Grief can shake your beliefs. When you lose someone you love, it can alter your reality so deeply that closely cherished beliefs may waver or fail, causing existential doubts.
5. You cannot measure grief. People may sometimes try to measure or compare grief for different losses. But grief is unquantifiable. There is no single type of relationship grief is always “worse” for.
6. You may be worn out physically, and emotionally. Grief can be surprisingly exhausting physically, and emotionally. You may have a difficult time keeping up with your everyday tasks.
7. Transformation is possible through grief. Losing a loved one is terrible, but it may surprise you that grief offers opportunities for transformation. While that does not lessen the loss, you may find yourself reassessing priorities or exploring a new direction in your life.

We Can Help Your Family During Hospice

We can provide you and your loved ones with support through this challenging time of grief. To find out more about we can help, please give us a call at (470) 395-6567. We care for patients and their families throughout the Atlanta area.

If you recently decided to enter hospice, or if you are a caretaker for a patient who is now entering hospice, you have a number of challenging emotional tasks ahead of you. One of those is to inform family and friends about the start of hospice care.

This is a difficult announcement because in many cases, it may also be the first time that family and friends are informed of the terminal diagnosis, as well as the timeline. What is the most compassionate way to share this news? Here are a few tips that can help these conversations go as smoothly and gently as possible.

1. Choose a personal way of conveying the news. Whenever possible, it is best to deliver this kind of life-altering news face-to-face. If you can do that in person, that is ideal. If not, online video chat may be your next best option. A phone call is also okay. You can rely on email or texting if you must, but we recommend it only if none of the other communication methods are available.
2. Pick a calm and grounding setting. Try not to give this news in a crowded, chaotic, noisy, unsettled environment. If you can, do it somewhere quiet and peaceful, where the loved one is better able to process the news.
3. Explain clearly what is happening. You might feel tempted to try and edge around the news. But you should come straight to the point. Say that the patient is entering hospice, when, why, and what to expect. Be honest about the terminal diagnosis. Do not try to hide it or couch it as a “maybe.”
4. Be ready to dispel myths about hospice. A lot of people have heard damaging myths about hospice. They might think that it means a patient cannot receive curative treatments for any of their conditions, that they cannot receive pain-alleviating treatments, or that hospice is where people go to die. None of these are accurate. Research shows that patients can live longer in hospice.
5. Offer to answer questions. The loved one is almost certainly going to have questions both about the patient’s condition and hospice care. Be prepared to answer them, or to go find answers to give to them later.
6. Be ready for your emotions and theirs. The person receiving this news is likely to have a strong emotional reaction. Each person you tell may show (or not show) that reaction in different ways. Try not to let this catch you off guard. Give the other person space to process their emotions however they need to do it. There is no “right” or “wrong” way. Your emotions may also be intense when you break the news or see how they react—so be ready for that too.
7. Invite their help. People who love the patient are usually going to want to help in some way, even if it is small. It can alleviate their feelings of helplessness if you give them opportunities to do that. Try to think of some ways they can assist, even if they seem minor.
8. Let them know you will keep them in the loop. Once you break painful news like this, you cannot leave the other person hanging. They are going to want updates on their loved one’s condition, treatments, and emotional state. Reassure them before the conversation ends that you will give them regular updates.

We Can Support You and Your Family During Hospice

The way in which you convey the news of hospice does have an effect on those who receive it. You cannot lighten the pain that goes with knowing a loved one has a terminal diagnosis, but you can still help mitigate some avoidable negative emotions. Loved ones will still be hurt by the news, but at least they may not be hurt by how it was told to them.

The patient and their loved ones deserve extra emotional care and support during this time. The compassionate staff at Golden Rule Hospice can help provide that support. To learn how we can help, please give us a call at (470) 395-6567. We care for patients throughout the Atlanta area.