In-Home Healthcare: Elder Care or Hospice Care?

As a parent or loved one ages and begins having health issues, it may be time to consider additional in-home healthcare. If your loved one is dealing with chronic health problems or struggling with daily activities, you may be wondering what sort of solutions would be best. Two important options are elder care and hospice care, but what are the differences? Phoenix Home Health is here to discuss the benefits of each program.

 

Elder Care

When considering additional help for your loved one, elder care may be the first thing that comes to mind. Elder care involves personalized care for a senior in their home or in a nursing home. Elder care is a general term that may involve several levels of personal and medical support throughout the aging process.

 

Help with Everyday Tasks

Specific tasks may become difficult as one gets older. Daily chores like cooking, shopping, doing laundry, and washing dishes can just become too much. Personal care tasks such as grooming, bathing, and other hygiene tasks can also become prohibitively difficult. In-home care with Phoenix Home Health is a perfect solution to aid elders with daily responsibilities. A little extra assistance goes a long way; tasks that once took hours can be completed in little to no time at all.

 

Extra Medical Care

Extra medical care can quickly become critical for aging seniors. Whether your loved one is dealing with chronic health issues or they simply have trouble managing their daily medications, extra medical care can improve length and quality of life. From daily medication management to wound care after surgery, from cardiac care to speech therapy after a stroke, Home Health Services from Phoenix Home Care offer an exceptional resource that can meet many needs.

 

A Partner on the Road to Recovery

When you choose Phoenix Home Health to provide elder care for your loved one, you are choosing a partner on the road to recovery. Our dedicated staff will be with your loved one on a daily basis, providing the level of care that is needed. We also perform ongoing, individualized assessment to ensure that additional levels of care are put in place when the time is right. Elder care is all about supporting and enriching the lives of seniors as they recover and remain independent.

 

Hospice Care

The goals of hospice care are different than the goals of elder care. People in hospice care usually have a terminal illness or incurable condition that will cause them to pass in a short amount of time. This key difference in prognosis changes the goals of care in a fundamental way. Hospice care focuses on comfort, dignity, and quality of life for patients and their families.

 

A Focus on Patient Comfort

Hospice care is all about making the patient comfortable in whatever their setting may be. They may choose to be in a hospice facility or they may choose to have hospice care in their homes. As a patient may be in their final months or moments, registered nurses and volunteers play an important role in providing care and companionship.

 

Deal with Terminal Conditions

Every patient that enters hospice care is different. Some conditions are more severe than others, and a patient’s length of stay is often uncertain. Nurses who provide hospice care understand the nature of each patient’s unique situation, providing medical care that reduces the patient’s symptoms, maintains the patient’s dignity and independence, and respects the patient’s personal and spiritual life journey.

 

A Partner for the Patient’s Personal Journey

Patients in hospice care are approaching the end of their journey through life, and it is the role of the hospice care team to assist the patient in their final days. While elder care is focused on recovery and returning the patient to their regular life, hospice care is focused on supporting the patient as their unique life journey comes to a close.

 

Let Phoenix Home Care & Hospice Assist You

Whether your loved one requires elder care or hospice care, Phoenix Home Care & Hospice has caring and experienced medical professionals who can help. We offer in-home healthcare as well as inpatient options for both elder care and hospice care. Contact them today at one of our many locations to discover how we can help.

 

Phoenix Home Care & Hospice

2945 SW Wanamaker Dr., Suite B

Topeka, KS 66614

785-260-6444

www.phoenixhomehc.com

 

READ: Home Health Care: Tips for Recovering from Hip Replacement Surgery

 

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