End-of-Life Care

Providing end-of-life care is critical to supporting and soothing someone in the final stages of their life. Comfort care can mean making an array of decisions about everything from the continuance of medical intervention to addressing a loved one’s spiritual needs. Other times, it can mean the simple gift of your presence in the final hours of a loved one’s life. Read on as Titan offers suggestions on addressing the physical, mental/emotional, spiritual, and practical aspects critical to end-of-life care. 

What is End-of-Life Care?

End-of-life care refers to a range of decisions made to ease suffering and improve a person’s quality of life in the final stages of a terminal illness. Decisions covering the physical, emotional, and spiritual well-being of the dying are made in harmony with the patient’s wishes. In some cases, those decisions have been made for family and friends because the dying person has created a specific end-of-life care plan in advance of needing it. In other cases, giving comfort will mean responding to the dying person’s wishes and acting on them accordingly. 

For every person, end-of-life care will be unique. The end may come quickly for someone dying, or there may be gradual physical weakening while the mind remains sharp. In other cases, there may be mental confusion while the physical body appears seemingly strong. The person dying may need months of end-of-life care or days. And while treatment options for a terminally ill patient have stopped, continued medical intervention may be required. 

End-of-Life Care – Palliative vs Hospice Care

Both palliative and hospice care might be offered to someone dying to provide them with daily care, increased physical comfort, emotional support, and spiritual guidance. Palliative care is specifically focused on alleviating physical discomfort, improving breathing, and handling the complications of daily life that may come with a significant illness. Palliative care is often given in concert with treatment, but it does not need to end when treatment does. Palliative care, like pain management, can become a crucial element in improving the quality of a person’s final days.  

Hospice end-of-life care is for patients who are no longer receiving treatment and are preparing for death. Qualified hospice caregivers may provide everything from pain management to the coordination of the caregiving team. Professional hospice services are available inside the dying person’s home, hospice-care facilities, hospitals, or nursing homes. 

Both palliative and hospice teams are available to you to help convey the patient’s thoughts about finding a peaceful death. The teams can support both the dying person and their family in making difficult decisions about when to remove life-support, where hospice care should be administered, what spiritual support is required, and how to answer the emotional needs of this challenging time. 

For more information about the differences between palliative and hospice care, please click here.   

End-of-Life Care – Mental and Emotional Assistance

While someone’s physical needs are somewhat easier to identify, the mental and emotional toll on someone who is dying and their family and friends can be significant and harder to understand. Addressing the emotional pain associated with dying is as important in end-of-life care as easing the physical discomfort.  

Don’t be afraid to talk to the person dying about their feelings. Not only might it help lessen their anxiety, but it may reveal their wishes for their final days or months. They may talk about who they would like around them. They may want time with certain friends and family for final goodbyes. They may have unresolved issues that they didn’t realize were bothering them until talking about their fears. The dying person may be focused on their legacy and want to outline specific concerns about things left undone. 

At times, the best way to offer mental and emotional end-of-life care is to provide some form of physical contact. A touch on the arm, holding hands or applying lotion are all simple acts that can make the dying patient feel connected to you and the world.  

Creating a soothing mood for the dying person can also be a powerful way to offer assistance. Soft lighting and music can help the dying person find peace. Music, in particular, is known to improve relaxation and engagement when it evokes happy memories or warm feelings. Listen to the stories the music inspires – that act of sharing can ease a dying person’s emotional pain.  

It is important to note that if the dying person is experiencing profound and frequent panic attacks or deep depression, you may want to seek the aid of a qualified counselor or therapist for guidance and/or medication.  

End-of-Life Care – Spiritual Support

It is not uncommon for people in the final stages of long-term illness to seek spiritual support. A spiritual advisor can offer solace through the dying person’s faith and help guide them through resolving anything that is unsettled with family or friends. If the dying person is struggling with weighty issues like the meaning behind their lives, a spiritual advisor may employ an array of practices, from the reading of religious texts to family discussions about how important the dying person has been to their lives and happiness. If the dying person does not ascribe to a particular religious or spiritual faith, they may still find comfort in talking to a counselor specializing in end-of-life care. 

End-of-Life Care – Making a Plan

Practical anxieties can weigh heavily on a person entering their final days. When offering to assist in end-of-life care, take a look at specific things that could take the load off of the person dying, their caregiver, or their family. These things can be small chores like laundry, meal preparation, or running errands to larger acts like offering to take care of a beloved pet after the person has passed. If desired, volunteer to review the dying person’s end-of-life checklist. Knowing that they have not left things undone can be a significant comfort.  

Create a notification email list, blog, or social media group to make updating family and friends easier. Be sure to have phone numbers, email addresses, or social media contacts verified and easily accessible. If you can provide periodic updates, this may lessen the challenge of keeping up with a steady stream of questions. It can also offer friends and family who cannot be there in person a place to send special thoughts or share memories that are easily read by the person who is dying.  

Also, if it has not already been done, you may want to broach the subject of funeral planning. While it may be hard to introduce the issue with a loved one, in those final days, you will want to be sure that you know their wishes. 

Do you have questions about creating an end-of-life checklist or any other issues relating to end-of-life celebrations? Titan Casket is here to help you get the funeral you want at a fair price. Contact us in the chat window or here to get started.