What You Should Know About Palliative Care
By Cheri Platte, Managing Director, Circle of Care Home Care
What is Palliative Care?
Palliative Care gives your loved one the best quality of life when facing a serious medical condition or diagnosed with an illness or disease, but what is it and how do you pick the right provider?
Seeing a loved one in pain after receiving a difficult diagnosis is extremely hard for the family. It can be a heavy burden to carry for both the patient and the family. Thankfully, there is something that can be done to lift the burden and make the journey a little bit easier. There are ways to treat symptoms, increase the quality of your loved one’s life, and make them more comfortable.
Circle of Care’s guide to Palliative Care services.
What You Should Know About Palliative Care
Palliative Care is a type of medical treatment that focuses on easing a patient’s symptoms in order to make them feel more comfortable. The main purpose of this kind of care is to improve the patient’s quality of life while they are undergoing aggressive treatment for a diagnosed medical condition. Programs that are targeted at treating an intense medical condition can be very taxing and painful. Even though these treatments are necessary, it is not an easy process for the patient.
Palliative care goes further than assisting with the Activities of Daily Living, or ADL’s, and Instrumental Activities of Daily Living, or IADL’s, it is specifically designed to focus on managing pain and discomfort (Symptom Management), as well as the physical, emotional and spiritual needs (Curative Care) of a patient. It is need-based, so the caregiver will continuously assess the patient’s condition and focus on relieving any symptoms that come up.
A patient can receive palliative care at any stage on their treatment timeline. Unlike a hospice, you do not have to have to be diagnosed with a terminal illness before you receive palliative care. In fact, the earlier you access palliative care, the better. If the condition declines, many patients then choose hospice advanced care planning for end of life. It’s important to note, palliative care doesn’t mean one has lost hope for recovery. No matter the diagnosis or stage, Palliative Care services can improve the quality of life for both patients and their families.
Choosing the Right Home Caregiver
You want to make sure that the caregiver you choose will meet the needs of your loved one and your family. It’s not just about the patient’s physical health, but you want to also make sure their mental, spiritual, and emotional needs are addressed as well. Having the full picture of your loved one’s health in mind is important when you are choosing your home care provider.
Do Your Research
Often, families will rush into a partnership with the first home care provider they find because crisis mode can kick in after a family member has been diagnosed with a serious illness. Choosing the right one takes careful research, so never rush into it.
Once you start researching, you need to decide what kind of care your loved one needs in order for them to live at home comfortably. Try not to go for the first one that pops up on the Google results. You want quality care, and that can only be determined by thorough research and comparing them with other providers.
Have a Consultation and Ask Questions
Once you are happy with what you have found, it is time to give the home care provider a call and set up a consultation or interview. Here are some examples of questions you could ask:
- How much experience do your caregivers have?
- What is the training process for your caregivers to make sure they are competent?
- How will you make sure that the caregiver will be the right fit for my loved one?
- Will you assign a constant caregiver or will there be different ones each time?
- How long does Palliative Care care service last?
- What kind of Home Care care services are available?
- Do you have professional industry references?
- Do you have client testimonials?
- How much does it cost and, are there hidden costs?
- What about contracts?
Ask as many questions as you think necessary. Any provider that wants the best for their patients will want to make sure that you have complete peace of mind when you choose to go with them.
Final Words
Palliative Care does not mean that hope for recovery is lost. Whatever the stage or the diagnosis, there are ways to make the patient feel more comfortable and allow them to live the best life they can.
Circle of Care Palliative Care services aims to give the patient the best, curated care available. The well-being of the patient and family is the number one concern. This is why we will tailor an individualized palliative care approach that will perfectly suit the patient in the comfort of their own residence.
Whether you need a primary caregiver service or respite care while the primary family caregiver takes a much-needed break, we will provide the right care for you and your family’s needs. Contact Circle of Care for a free, no-obligation consultation.
Cheri Platte
Managing Director
CIRCLE OF CARE, LLC
Cheri Platte is a home care expert and a professional consultant for family caregivers. She has been a compassionate advocate for the elderly for over 20 years now. As the Managing Director for Circle of Care, she focuses on providing excellent and high-quality home care solutions for families who care for their loved ones.
Her mission is to educate the public on the benefits of home care and home health, assist families in developing individual care plans, and help them plan for the advanced stages of aging, emphasizing on what matters most in terms of quality of life for the loved one. The company culture enables Circle of Care to hire and retain hundreds of professional care team members who are skilled and compassionate and produces a word-of-mouth referral network in the Southern California communities they serve. They are trusted by families, doctors, nurses, social workers, hospitals, nursing homes, senior communities, Long Term Care Specialists and other esteemed members of the healthcare industry. When not helping families in need, Cheri spends time mentoring other business owners and rising professionals plus volunteering at various organizations.
