When someone is facing a life-limiting illness, that creates an emotionally charged situation for the people who love that person. That mix of emotions is often referred to as anticipatory grief. It’s a time when family caregivers are balancing their feelings and the practical aspects of caring for someone nearing the end of life. Hospice care services offer a variety of solutions to help families manage anticipatory grief.
Understand What Anticipatory Grief Is
Loss and sadness are big parts of grief, but family caregivers can start to feel these emotions before the person they love passes away. Sometimes these feelings are so large that they interfere with how family caregivers are able to keep coping with what is happening. Anticipatory grief is this combination of loss and sadness that precedes the true loss. It can last for a long time before anything truly changes with the person’s health. Dealing with anticipatory grief helps family caregivers to make better decisions about care.
Acknowledge Feelings When They Arise
When anticipatory grief hits, it’s important for the people feeling it to acknowledge those feelings, no matter how complex they are. Feelings don’t always feel temporary when they’re churning around, but they are. In order to manage the guilt, sadness, and other emotions that can be a part of grief, it’s vital to name them and acknowledge that they exist. For some family caregivers, facing those feelings can help them to fade a bit.
Seek Out Hospice Care Support as Soon as Possible
Often families try to wait to embrace options like hospice care for as long as they can because they’re not ready to accept what is happening. But there are serious benefits to entering hospice sooner rather than later. This type of care offers practical, hands-on assistance that is crucial while also offering emotional support that can help with anticipatory grief and other issues.
Embrace Self-care and Supportive Routines with Hospice Care
Family caregivers and people who are nearing the end of their lives benefit from supportive routines that allow them to have structure and stability. Finding ways to practice self-care is also important. Hospice elder care also offers family caregivers a chance to experience vital respite care, which helps them to recharge in order to better offer care to the person needing support.
Stay Present in the Here and Now
Thinking about the future too often can contribute to anticipatory grief. Instead of letting the possibilities of what might happen overwhelm them, family caregivers need to find ways to stay in each moment as it is. This is easier to do when family members have the help that they need to manage the practical aspects of daily life.
Hospice care can help families manage anticipatory grief in other ways, too. Each person’s circumstances and needs are unique, so it helps to have experienced assistance available at every turn. Anticipatory grief is a normal part of end-of-life concerns, but it can get in the way of being there for loved ones as they face terminal conditions.
If you or your aging loved one could benefit from Hospice Care Services in St. Matthews 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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