Providing Hospice & Palliative Care in Orangeburg, Bamberg, & Calhoun Counties

Health Care News

What You Need to Know about End of Life Conversations with Your Senior

End of Life Care Holly Hill SC-Having conversations is so much better than avoiding them in the long run. You’re better prepared for the various different situations that you might encounter along the way in the end of life care services your loved one may desire.
End of Life Care Holly Hill SC - What You Need to Know about End of Life Conversations with Your Senior
End of Life Care Holly Hill SC - What You Need to Know about End of Life Conversations with Your Senior

Conversations about what might happen, especially regarding your elderly family member and her situation, are ones that you might consider putting off for as long as possible. But that’s not such a great idea and it can make your job as a family caregiver a lot more difficult than it really has to be. Having these conversations is so much better than avoiding them in the long run. You’re better prepared for the various different situations that you might encounter along the way in the end of life care services your loved one may desire.

End of Life Care Conversations Help to Get Everyone on the Same Page

End of Life Care Holly Hill SC - What You Need to Know about End of Life Conversations with Your Senior
End of Life Care Holly Hill SC – What You Need to Know about End of Life Conversations with Your Senior

If you don’t talk about what your elderly family member wants at the end of her life, there’s no way for you to know for sure just what her wishes are. The problem is that these conversations can feel impossible to have. For you, it means facing your elderly family member’s mortality. And for your senior, it can also mean facing mortality but also talking about things that maybe aren’t topics that she’s ever discussed aloud. It’s tough to have these sorts of conversations if everyone isn’t willing to do so, and at some point, you may have to be the one to bring up the difficult topics so that things don’t get shoved to the side.

The problem with putting these end of life conversations off for too long is that you need to know how you can support your senior’s goals and help her to get where she wants to be. If she wants to age in place, even at the very end of her life, you need to know what to do in terms of end of life care. Having the right resources in place is going to help your senior to have what she needs as she edges closer and closer to her last days.

Get Your Senior’s Medical Team Involved, Too

It’s a good idea to get your senior’s medical team involved in some of these conversations, too. There’s a lot that your elderly family member may need or want at the end of her life, and her doctors are going to be able to help determine if meeting those goals is possible for her. And if there is additional assistance necessary, end of life care providers are usually an excellent fit. This type of care is about helping your senior to be comfortable and cared for as she edges closer to the end of her life.

Continue Checking in to Make Sure Everything Is Still Working for Her

These difficult conversations may not be a “one and done” situation, however. It’s important to check in with your senior when things change and even after some time passes. Your elderly family member’s needs can change very quickly, and end of life care can help you to keep up with everything that is affected by those changes. When you pause to check in with your senior and make sure that you’re still meeting her needs, that helps her to feel more confident that you’re doing all you can to keep working toward her goals.

Having these conversations is so much better than avoiding them in the long run. You’re better prepared for the various different situations that you might encounter along the way.

If you or your aging loved one could benefit from End of Life Care Services in Holly Hill SC, contact the caring staff at Grove Park Hospice, at (803)536-6644.

Providing Hospice & Palliative Care in Orangeburg, Bamberg, & Calhoun Counties

Recent Posts

Categories

Contact Us About Home Care

Skip to content