Is a loved one in Salt Lake City, Utah, ready for hospice care?
According to the latest research from the National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization, most eligible patients – upwards of 90 percent – choose to receive hospice care at home or wherever they reside. Doing this, remaining in a familiar setting and being near family and friends, brings comfort and joy to the end-of-life experience.
While hospice care at home is a great option for the terminally ill, families often need to do a bit of work to prepare a loved one’s living spaces for in-home care. Here at Suncrest Hospice, we do all we can to ensure the transition to hospice care goes smoothly, and you can count on us to help create a plan and make the necessary changes. For now, though, give thought to our general recommendations.
Setting Up the Bedroom
Many people in hospice care spend the bulk of their time in bed, so the bedroom essentially functions as the living room – yet it also needs to house a hospital bed, a lift system, a bedside commode, a CPAP machine or whatever medical equipment the hospice patient requires. When organizing the space, we suggest:
- Decide if a different room – one with a better view or more room for guests — should be the hospice patient’s bedroom.
- Focus on accessibility, leaving plenty of space to maneuver around the furniture and the provided medical equipment.
- Consider personal comforts, such as the ability to control the lighting or a white noise machine to minimize external sound.
- Adding an over-the-bed table to keep snacks and forms of entertainment – like a laptop, puzzle or adult coloring book – in easy reach
Getting the Bathroom Ready
The bathroom is where most slip-and-fall accidents occur, but unless a hospice patient is restricted to their bedroom, they’ll be visiting this room multiple times a day. Again, accessibility is key, and making a bathroom as safe as possible can be a challenging task. To ready the space, we typically recommend that families:
- Place handrails or grab bars in important areas, like the shower and next to the toilet, to allow for safer mobility.
- Install a raised toilet seat to make it easier for the hospice patient to use the restroom without assistance.
- Put a shower seat and a non-slip mat in the tub and an absorbent non-slip rug outside of it to make bathing safer.
Ensuring Mobility in the Home
Many of us don’t have the clearest pathways and rooms in our Salt Lake City homes, but the disarray isn’t really much an issue until someone isn’t able to move around that easily. For people on hospice care, mobility loss is all too common, and to make the place safe, families of hospice patients may need to:
- Remove throw rugs in the areas that will be in use to reduce the chance of the hospice patient tripping and falling.
- Install hall lighting or add nightlights in key spots to allow for safer movement around the place at any hour.
- Relocate certain pieces of furniture and clear any clutter to ensure all pathways have plenty of free space.
Considering Personal Needs
Hospice care at home is built around the idea of providing comfort and a better quality of life as the end is drawing near. Salt Lake City hospice patients have a team of skilled professionals working toward that goal, but families also want to help make that happen. To that end, loved ones can:
- Hang curtains or set up a portable room divider to give a hospice patient a greater amount of privacy.
- Get soft blankets, plush pillows and positioning devices to help keep the individual in hospice care comfortable.
- Stock up on preferred foods and drinks, as any patient able to eat appreciates having access to their favorites.
Keeping Everything Organized
With hospice care at home, families receive the necessary support and guidance to help their loved ones live out their remaining time in comfort. However, keeping track of the daily routine, scheduled hospice team visits, bills and everything else can be quite the challenge. To make matters a little easier, families can:
- Keep a list of medications and dosages in a sensible spot.
- Find a way to store medical supplies near at hand.
- Use a wall calendar to track caregiving duties and appointments.
- Set ground rules in regards to who handles which tasks.
At Suncrest Hospice of Salt Lake City, we strive to alleviate the stress that naturally comes when arranging for hospice care at home. Our friendly team of skilled professionals takes control of the medical equipment and medical supplies, and we provide families with the resources and tools they need to ensure optimal care.
Is a loved one living in Salt Lake City, Utah, thinking about entering hospice? We’re ready to help with the necessary arrangements, and we’ll make every effort to ensure that the individual you hold dear is happy and comfortable throughout the final chapter of life. To get more information about hospice care at home, or to schedule a free, no-obligation consultation, contact Suncrest Hospice in Salt Lake City, Utah, today.
