When someone you love enters hospice care, you and your family may feel overwhelmed. During this time of heartache and confusion, seeing the positive aspects of hospice care can be difficult. Just remember: the hospice team is there to help and provide invaluable support for your family.
Before discussing the benefits of hospice care for your family, let’s clarify what it is and what to expect.
What is Hospice Care?
If your loved one is eligible for hospice care, it means that medical treatments are no longer improving their health, and you have stopped seeking a cure. Instead, you turn to hospice care to ensure your loved one has the best possible quality of life before they pass away.
While “hospice care” sounds scary and carries a sense of finality, its mission is to ensure that caregivers treat every person with compassion and dignity during their final days. Hospice care can range from days to months, or in some cases, years. The primary purpose of hospice is to provide around-the-clock care, monitor health, assess needs, and make the patient as comfortable as possible.
During this important transition, understanding how hospice care supports both your loved one and your family can be helpful as you come to terms with their eventual passing. Let’s look at a few ways hospice care benefits you and your family.
3 Ways Hospice Care Supports Your Family
Benefit #1: Hospice care relieves the burden and stress of caregiving.
If you or a family member provided daily care for your loved one, it is normal to feel tired and worn out. Your loved one may have been sick for a while before entering hospice and needed your help. If so, there were likely many doctor visits, hospital stays, and pharmacy runs. Hospice care relieves you of the responsibilities of being a full-time caregiver.
Enlisting the help of hospice care can alleviate some of the mental load of taking care of your loved one. Once hospice services start, professionals manage daily caregiving duties and administer the medications and care routines needed to keep your loved one comfortable. Having this built-in help allows you to focus on spending quality time with your loved one instead of taking care of them.
If you were your loved one’s long-term primary caregiver prior to hospice, you may feel like you gave up or struggle with feelings of guilt, shame, or sadness. Please know that calling in hospice doesn’t mean that you couldn’t handle it on your own. Instead, you now have someone to carry it with you, giving you the space to tend to your own needs while still spending as much time as possible with your loved one.
When you have someone to help with the caregiving, you are free to share memories, stories, and laughter with your loved one while you are both still able to do so. Spending time with your loved one is beneficial for both of you and allows you to share meaningful, precious moments together in their final days.
Benefit #2: Hospice care offers reassurance and peace of mind.
You may experience fears and uncertainties about what lies ahead when your loved one is placed in hospice. The hospice team will provide round-the-clock care, ensuring your loved one’s comfort and your peace of mind.
Depending on the level of care your loved one needs, multiple people will work together to provide the required services. A doctor will oversee your loved one’s team, which may include a nurse, social worker, or other professionals certified in various areas. All are highly trained to provide quality care, treating their patients with kindness and compassion and ensuring that your loved one is well cared for during their final moments.
Knowing a full-time care team is present can be comforting to family members who are unable to be near their loved one as often as they would like. Having confidence that your loved one is receiving excellent care when you’re not there can give you and your family peace of mind when you need to step away.
Benefit #3: Hospice care connects you to helpful resources.
As mentioned previously, your loved one will have a customized hospice care team to address their unique needs. Hospice care can be overwhelming, but a team of experts will guide you every step of the way. One important advantage of hospice care is access to specialists from various fields, who provide a range of services and help connect you to appropriate support networks.
A social worker will be assigned to your loved one to help you and your family navigate the hospice process. Their primary role is to guide you through the hospice process and provide the resources and tools you need. For example, throughout your loved one’s diagnosis and hospice care, it’s natural to experience anticipatory grief as you prepare for what lies ahead. Your social worker can connect you with counselors or support groups to help you navigate the emotional challenges.
In addition to medical care, your loved one may require various therapies, nutrition support, or specialized medical equipment. Other members of the hospice care team can provide these services or obtain the materials your loved one needs so you don’t have to manage these logistics alone. The team is equipped to support both you and your loved one throughout the process.
Now that you understand how hospice care benefits both you and your family, you can discuss the options together and move forward with confidence. Throughout your loved one’s hospice care journey, you are not alone. Your hospice care team can provide a listening ear, serve as a calming presence, and actively support you through the entire hospice process.
Additional Resources
Who Qualifies for Hospice Care?
6 Ways Hospice Care Can Improve Quality of Life
