Whether your elderly family member’s health is failing or she’s simply getting to an age where she knows she needs to start thinking about these things, planning for the end of your senior’s life is important stuff. End of life care professionals can make the challenges associated with these types of decisions a lot easier. That’s even more true if your elderly family member needs a lot more help now than she did in the past.
Get Paperwork Together and Talk about Wishes
There’s a lot of paperwork involved in living a life, especially at the end of someone’s life. Your elderly family member might not have thought about things like medical directives or a will, but now might be the last, best chance for her to get that paperwork in order. Figuring out what she wants will help both of you get the right plans in place.
What does your senior want from this stage of her life? If her health worsens significantly, what type of living situation does she want? What types of care does she want? If she’s not sure about any of these things already, you and she may need to have a big heart-to-heart conversation about how you can best support her as her family caregiver during this stage of her life.
Look Closely at Health Recommendations for End of Life Care
It’s also important to understand what your senior’s doctor is saying about her health and what types of changes she’s likely to experience with her health. End of life care may be the right option for your senior if her healthcare providers feel that she’s nearing a point where her life is limited significantly. If this isn’t something that her doctor has brought up with her, your senior may want to ask for more information about what her doctor recommends in terms of hospice and care at the end of her life.
Help Your Senior to Share Memories Now
The last thing that you want to lose after you’ve lost your elderly family member is all of her favorite memories, too. That’s why it can be so important to find a way now to celebrate and preserve her memories as much as you can. Record your elderly family member sharing her favorite stories or find other ways to preserve those moments. You’ll be happy that you did.
Revisit the Plan Every Few Months in Case of Changes
Things do change, even at the end of your elderly family member’s life. She may have thought that some of her wishes were finalized only to realize that her needs or her wants may have changed since you last discussed them. This is why it’s imperative to revisit her plans every few months, just to adjust for any of those changes. End of life care can be incredibly helpful with this.
It’s never easy to think about losing someone that you love. But the more plans you and she can make together now, the more certain you’ll feel that you did what she wanted you to do in the end.
If you or your aging loved one could benefit from End of Life Care Services in Denmark SC, contact the caring staff at Grove Park Hospice, at (803)536-6644.
Providing Hospice & Palliative Care in Orangeburg, Bamberg, & Calhoun Counties
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