How Do You Know if Your Senior Needs Palliative Care?
Palliative Care in Roseville CA
Many people who are wrestling with chronic health conditions don’t know that there are other options available, like palliative care. This type of care offers some unique types of assistance to people and families who are managing serious health issues. Your elderly family member is able to continue to try curative treatments while also getting other types of assistance.
She’s Been Diagnosed with a Serious Health Issue
Chronic, serious health issues are a big deal. They take a lot out of your senior and they may be complicated to treat as well. Chronic health issues in particular worsen over time. Incurable health conditions, like COPD, take a lot more than your senior’s health. This means that she’s dealing with the physical impact of her diagnosis as well as the emotional and mental impacts, too. That’s a lot to manage and it’s much better for you and your senior if she doesn’t have to do all of that alone.
She’s Having a Tough Time Managing Symptoms
One of the most frustrating aspects of dealing with a complicated diagnosis can be dealing with symptoms. And with a progressive illness, those symptoms are more likely to become problematic over time. Your elderly family member may find that even with treatments for her health issues, symptom management is a different beast entirely. Palliative care offers different options for addressing symptoms, and that can be a huge relief for your senior.
Some of Her Symptoms Dramatically Decrease Her Quality of Life
The worst types of symptoms are the ones that affect your senior’s quality of life. Symptoms like fatigue, loss of appetite, and shortness of breath can take a huge toll on your senior. These are the symptoms that cause her to give up the hobbies that she loves and that might cause her to isolate herself more than she would normally. By working with palliative care providers, your elderly family member may be able to land on a plan that helps her to have the tools that she needs to regain some of her quality of life.
She Feels Overwhelmed Trying to Understand Her Health
Another way that you might be surprised to find palliative treatments helpful is that you and your senior can learn much more about her health conditions than you might have thought possible. It’s difficult to learn everything that you can about a new health condition. And it can feel sometimes as if doctors don’t have enough time to share everything with you and answer all of your questions. Working with care providers who have time to educate you and your senior about what she’s facing helps immensely.
This type of care isn’t something that your senior is locked into, either. If she feels that she no longer needs the help it can provide, she doesn’t have to stick with it. But she may just find that it offers her a way to feel as if she’s got her health better under control and that help is there when she needs it most.
If you are considering palliative care in Roseville, CA, for an aging loved one, please contact the caring staff at PIC Comfort Care today. Call (530) 885-9948.
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