It isn’t easy making sure that your senior is as comfortable as possible as she transitions to the end of her life. If you’re lucky, you and she have talked at length about what she might want. But if communication isn’t possible, there’s so much guesswork involved.
Without Being Able to Communicate, it’s Difficult for Everyone to Understand
When your senior can’t talk to your or has lost the ability to coherently communicate her wishes to you, that complicates everything about her end-of-life experience. It might be difficult for you to understand what she needs or what she’s finding uncomfortable. On the other hand, it’s equally difficult for you to explain to her why certain things might be happening when and how they’re happening.
The Real Problem Is You Don’t Always Know What She Wants
The true difficulty is that you’re never quite sure exactly what your senior needs or wants in a given moment or situation. When that happens, you might feel as if you’re constantly guessing and getting a lot of those guesses wrong. You may find that you’re learning how to read your senior’s body language, especially if she is nonverbal or otherwise unable to communicate with you.
Adjust Activities Based on All of Her Senses to Cover as Much Ground as Possible
When you’re trying to provide comfort and quality of life for your senior, it helps if you do what you can to play to all of her senses. Rely on the activities and situations that you know that she enjoys, but vary them so that you can do as much as possible for her. Talk to her when you’re in the room or read her favorite book to her. Use gentle massage on her hands and her feet to relax those muscles. Adjust lighting to accommodate whether she seems to need the room to be a little darker.
Lean on the Experience of Hospice Elder Care Providers
Part of the frustration you’ll experience during this time is simply not knowing for sure what to do and when to do it. Hospice elder care providers have been there before and they can help you and your senior to find the solutions that help her the most. They can also help you to recognize when your own need for self-care might be complicating what you’re trying to do. They can take care of your senior and when you come back, you can pick right back up again.
You don’t have to feel as if you’re all alone in figuring out what your senior needs as she nears the end of her life. Try the solutions that you know help and rely on others to give you an extra set of hands when you need them.
If you are or a loved one is considering hospice elder care in Norcross, GA, please call the caring staff at Arcturus Hospice and Palliative Care today. Call 678-383-9973 today to speak to our care team.
Kate Gorinshteyn is the director of marketing at Arcturus Health Care. Arcturus is a fast-growing Hospice striving to provide the highest level of quality care to patients faced with life-limiting illnesses. Our goal is to make each patient as pain-free as possible and give physiological, emotional and spiritual support to both the patient and family. We understand that the decision change from curative to comfort care is difficult, and our team is trained to help you every step of the way!
We are proud to make a difference in the lives of those we serve.