Tips to Provide Better In-Home Hospice Care

When you’re caring for a loved one who is nearing the end of life, you may be wondering what you can do to provide better in-home care. The following are some tips you can use to do that, whether you have a hospice nurse or not helping you.

Provide What Your Loved One Needed and Needs

In a book by Dr. Simon Noble, How to Have a Good Death, “One way to approach the question what the dying person needs from you is to consider what he or she needed from you when they weren’t dying.” In other words, if your loved one needed you to spend time and talk, then that’s what you should be doing – spending quality time with him or her and talk.

Be Open and Honest

Just because your loved one is dying, it doesn’t mean he or she doesn’t know when you’re not being open and honest. This knowledge can be incredibly frustrating, and not the way he or she wanted to end life. Don’t think you need to keep things away from your loved one because you’re afraid of hurting feelings or some other negative reaction.

Allow Your Loved One to Lead the Way

The end of life differs for every person, so don’t have expectations on what it should be like for your loved one. Step back and look at what your loved one is doing, saying, and requesting, and then try to follow along as much as possible. Comfort is the goal during this stage of life, and that comfort comes from knowing a caregiver truly cares.

Care for Yourself

Caregiving is exhausting, which is why many people who are caring for an older loved one have hospice services. These services provide the respite and additional support during this challenging time. Caregivers can take care of themselves when they have someone who is caring for their loved one, especially when it’s someone who knows how to care for someone who is dying. When caregivers take care of themselves, they can focus their attention on their loved one better, which in turn, means providing better in-home care.

Use the Power of Touch

A gentle touch on the arm or shoulder means so much to someone who is suffering. As you’re talking to your loved one or when you’re spending quiet time together, remember to touch him or her gently. This gentle touch can send the message comfort, love, and unwavering support, which can be incredibly powerful.

Seek Advice from a Hospice Nurse

Many questions come up as your loved one is dying, and hospice nurses can help answer them. If you’re looking for help with hospice care, Los Angeles’ All in One Hospice Care can help. Our staff of highly trained hospice nurses and health specialists know how stressful, emotional, and exhausting the end of life can be, which is why they want to provide as much support as needed.

Contact us now at 1-888-599-4734. We have on-call hospice nurses ready to take your call.