Hospice improves quality of life. But talking about hospice is never easy. It’s always difficult to consider a loved one’s end of life. This often becomes much more emotionally challenging when your loved one is declining close to or during the holidays. The holidays are often associated with joy and promise, family togetherness and capturing memories. But this is what makes hospice a real solution. This blog will help you understand eight ways hospice improves quality of life during the holidays.

Thinking differently about what hospice can bring your family can help ensure that the holidays are celebrated as joyfully and fully as possible when your loved one is seriously ill. Hospice improves quality of life. Hospice enables those coping with a life-limiting illness to more fully engage in life’s activities and joys. Many of those under our care felt they wanted to delay care until after the holidays. But what they came to realize is that a referral to Ascend Hospice & Palliative Care at the holidays actually helped their family have more quality time together during the holidays.

How Hospice Improves Quality of Life During the Holidays

• Discomfort and other symptoms can prevent your seriously ill loved one from enjoying and participating in holiday traditions. Our expertise in pain control and symptom management brings the comfort that allows your loved one to more fully engage in holiday traditions.
• Family caregiving is never easy but often even more stressful with the added obligations of preparing for the holidays. Ascend brings an extra layer of real support. Our team of caregivers joins in the duties of caring for your loved one. Ascend CNAs help take weight off your shoulders by helping with daily caregiving responsibilities like bathing, grooming, changing bedding, light housekeeping and light meal preparation.
• Highly trained Ascend volunteers provide companionship and respite, thereby reducing stress and allowing family members to focus on holiday preparations. You can have peace of mind while running errands like holiday shopping without worrying about leaving your loved one alone.
• We help you become more than a caregiver. Often when caring for a seriously ill loved one, your role changes. You are seen as their caregiver and less like the son, daughter, husband or wife you once were to them. The relationship shifts. The families we care for often tell us that with the support of Ascend they were able to return to their family role. This is so important during the holidays when you hope to capture this precious time together and once again become the family you were before the illness changed everything.
• We help families cope with the emotional toll of life-limiting illness that increases during the holidays. Our counselors and caregivers provide emotional support and understanding. We help you cope with the fear of loss and empower you to focus on the present, while your loved one is here with you. Our goal is to ensure you capture every moment with your loved one instead of worrying about tomorrow.
• There’s little worse than the fear of spending the holidays in the hospital or running to the ER. Our expert care and individual plans of care focus on the unique needs of each person to help keep your loved one at home by reducing the risk of hospitalizations during the holidays.
• Our extra layer of support allows families to focus on their loved ones rather than on arranging medical equipment, doctor appointments, prescriptions and other needs. Ascend provides for many needs related to your loved one’s illness, including medical equipment and medications.
• Some people question their beliefs when facing the reality that this may be their last holiday with a loved one. Many people don’t realize that hospice offers spiritual support. Ascend non-denominational chaplains are available to help guide you through anger, hopelessness, questions of faith and fear. The holidays often bring these emotions to the surface.

When Is It Time for Hospice?

Though recent research has shown that hospice actually extends life and improves quality of life, too many people gain the support hospice brings too late. Here are some indications that can help you determine when it may be time to consider hospice care.

• Your loved one has made more than three trips to the ER
• Your loved one is showing signs of increased anxiety, depression or confusion
• Your loved one is needing more and more help with mobility
• Your loved one is sleeping more often or spending more time in a favorite chair
• Your loved one is experiencing frequent infections
• You are noticing that they are eating less, are less interested in food and are losing weight
• You are noticing that they seem to be more confused
• Your loved one is growing tired of aggressive treatments and is talking about quality of life
• You are spending more and more time taking them to doctor appointments
• You are becoming overwhelmed with caregiving duties and feel like they need more support than you are able to provide

We’re Here to Help

We understand that considering hospice during the holidays can be a difficult decision. Though people associate hospice care with sadness and giving up, once in hospice care they realize it’s about hope. It helps to realize that once curative care is no longer an option, you can still change the outcome. You can do all you can to improve their quality of life, and hospice greatly improves quality of life. Waiting until after the holidays cannot change your loved one’s hope for a cure, but it will delay their ability to live more fully, especially at a time that means so much.

We’re here to help you determine if hospice care is right for you and your loved one. Our compassionate caregivers can help you understand hospice care and other options for support like our palliative care services. Reach out to us today for answers, options and support. We’re here to help.