The most effective and soothing treatment for any illness that may affect a human being is sufficient care and support from a fellow human being. Ailments and diseases tend to affect the body of a person and the mind, and during this time, the patient might be prone to several mental strains and difficulties. In those times of weakness, a helping hand, however small the gesture is, might be a tremendous aid to the affected person.
Hospice and palliative care are two support services that excel in lending that helping hand. They can provide professional support and care for those who truly need it.
Here are some things you should know about hospice and palliative care.
What is palliative care?
Palliative care supports people with serious illnesses like cancer and heart diseases that may be cured using the appropriate treatment. Palliative care focuses hugely on improving the well-being of the patient and their family and providing the patient with sufficient medical care. They can provide patients with experts who can guide them through different medical treatment choices.
Other services they offer are providing elderly persons with transportation facilities for getting to the hospital, social workers for providing them with the required medicines, etc.
What is hospice care?
Hospice care is for patients suffering from a terminal illness. As the patient’s time is, unfortunately, coming to an end, they require the care and comfort of others. This differs from palliative care, as in hospice care, there is no possible treatment available that can cure the patient. Sometimes a patient getting palliative support may become medically uncurable. In those unfortunate instances, the patient is recommended to switch from palliative to hospice care.
Typically, the doctors recommend patients with hospice care instead of palliative care if they believe the patient will only last another 6 months. Heeding their advice is highly suggested since the emotional support they provide to the patient and their family is immensely helpful in these tough times.
What are the differences and similarities?
Both hospice and palliative care provide medical support and mental support to the patient and their families. Moreover, they provide social workers and other experts for patient’s needs.
One of the main differences between palliative and hospice care is that in palliative care, they provide the patients with treatments that they hope to cure the patient with. In hospice care, they stop looking for a cure and accept the truth of the matter, that now the only thing they can offer the patient is sufficient care and comfort.
Like palliative care, hospice care also hopes to improve the quality of life of the patient and their family by taking care of social, emotional, medical, and spiritual support they require. In hospice care, although the treatments for trying to cure the person have stopped, they still provide the patient with other treatments and medicine for reducing or relieving the symptoms of the illness.
Where are these services provided?
Palliative care services can sometimes be provided by hospitals, smaller clinics, nursing homes, private-owned palliative teams, etc. In any case, they provide the patients with medical, social, emotional, and spiritual support.
Hospice care typically provides patients with the necessary services in the comfort of their own homes. However, they are also provided at nursing homes, clinics, etc. There are also institutions devoted entirely to providing patients with hospice care. Examples of these institutions are old-age homes for elderly people. Older people with terminal illnesses are given the necessary care and support to improve their well-being and comfort at the end of their days.
Palliative and hospice care extend their services to the patient and their family. Grief counselling, disease support groups, and other services are provided to the patient’s family, relatives, and friends. However small they seem, these supports are imperative for getting through these tough waters. Both palliative and hospice care are typically provided to the patient at their own home or in specialized facilities such as Aastha Medical and other nursing homes.
Final Thoughts
No person in the world is immune to every disease, and everyone is bound to become ill at some point in their life. Although this is a foreboding fact, knowing that there will always be those who will support us when the time comes is reassuring. A perfect example of these supporters can be seen in palliative and hospice care. All the relevant people play a vital role in providing the ill with immensely helpful services.Comfort care, pain management & counseling are vital to ensuring a good quality of life for the elderly requiring hospice and palliative care. Aastha’s experienced and empathic teams deliver superior hospice & palliative care at our care facilities at optimal costs. For more information visit- Hospice (meegodigital.com)