How Hospice Keeps Patients Home for the Holidays

Many people nearing the end of their life live in nursing homes and other healthcare facilities all across the country. They do not get the opportunity to experience family holidays the way they enjoyed throughout their lives. Hospice & Palliative care presents another option. With the at-home services provided by caring and compassionate hospice workers, the elderly, ill, and infirm can experience holidays in a much more comfortable and loving environment.

Hospice Means At-Home Care

While hospitals and other medical centers provide essential services, they are not the most comfortable or welcoming places to stay for any length of time. When a loved one comes to a place where they need palliative care that caters to their physical, mental, and emotional health, hospice services like those at LifeChoice in Wheeling, IL allow them to receive it where they feel most comfortable: home.

There, they can be surrounded by their loved ones on a managed visitation schedule rather than one organized by the Medical Center itself. They can enjoy their own leisure activities, television, music, and more. They can see their own belongings, favorite art on the walls, and feel that true sense of peace that comes with knowing you’re in a place that is both familiar and private.

All of these benefits are especially important around the holidays. These are the times when personal belongings and time with family and friends means so much more. This is a big reason why receiving hospice care from compassionate and dedicated professionals improves the quality of life.

The Emotional Benefits of Holidays at Home

Holidays are usually a time for celebration, but when a loved one is nearing the end of their journey, the emotions may turn negative instead of positive. This happens more frequently around holidays when depression can set in due to missed opportunities, lack of celebration, and being away from everything they hold dear. The ability to stay home for the holidays with compassionate hospice workers to help makes the good feelings and comfort, more easily.

This is equally true for the family and friends of the person receiving palliative care. It is very difficult to feel comfortable or enjoy all the family traditions of a holiday one more time with a loved one when they are in a featureless hospital room or long-term care facility. A considerable part of the services that LifeChoice provides benefit the family and friends also taking care of the elderly or infirm person. If the compassionate and understanding team working together can do anything to make the holidays at home more comfortable and positive, they will do so as part of the emotional side of caring. Hospice & palliative care involves so much more than personal care, medication, and comfort. It also includes services and assistance to make these end-of-life days as positive as possible for everyone involved.