When you’re unfamiliar with supportive care, also known as palliative care, it might feel as if this is a treatment plan that is meant for other people, not your senior. Or you might feel that it’s more of an end-of-life therapy, and your senior is not there yet. It is possible, though, that palliative care can do much more for your senior than either of you realize. It’s important to get all the facts.
Supportive (or Palliative) Care is in Addition to Curative Care
Unlike hospice, palliative care is a concurrent service that runs alongside your senior’s existing therapies and treatments. It’s another way to help her to deal with chronic or long-lasting illnesses. There are different goals for palliative and curative therapies, but they’re designed to work together. Your senior still sees her current doctors and specialists, she just has an additional team that works with her.
Supportive (or Palliative) Care is NOT about your Senior Dying
One misconception about supportive treatment is that it’s about your senior passing away. Your senior may choose palliative treatments when she’s closer to the end of her life, but it isn’t a requirement in order to receive this type of care. Part of the care that your senior receives might be about helping her with the psychological impact of a chronic illness or helping her to make future plans. But that’s not the crux of the care at all.
Who Needs Supportive/Palliative Care?
Anyone who is facing a chronic, life-threatening illness can qualify for supportive care. Your senior is not required to give up any treatments that she’s already chosen. The palliative care that she receives is in addition to those treatments and can help them to be more effective for her.
Palliative Care Focuses on Quality of Life
Quality of life is the main goal of palliative care. Your senior may have symptoms, side effects, and other needs that aren’t met within the curative therapy framework. Your senior’s palliative team might consist of other doctors, nurses, and even therapists, social workers, and religious leaders. Whatever your senior needs most can be included.
Palliative care can also be there for you as your senior’s family caregiver. Dealing with a chronic illness is trying for you and for your senior. You have needs as well that are likely more difficult to meet when your focus is on your senior’s well-being. Palliative options can make life easier for you while also helping to meet your aging family member’s needs.
If you or an aging loved-one is considering Palliative Care in Denton County, TX please contact the knowledgeable staff at Ardent Supportive Care at 469-348-0670.
My name is Jimmie Stapleton. I am the founder and CEO of Ardent Healthcare. Ardent Healthcare includes Ardent Hospice, Ardent Supportive Care, MaximaCare Home Health and Ardent at Home.
Ardent Hospice was opened in 2007 to provide care and support for individuals and families facing a life limiting illness. It was established after my wife Ellen, who had been diagnosed with breast cancer, had completed her chemo and radiation therapies. At that time, things were looking positive, and we wanted to do something for our community that had been so supportive of our family during her treatments. Unfortunately, the cancer returned a few years later, and she subsequently passed away under our care in 2010.
In the years that followed, I began to see the need to provide the same level of excellent care to patients across the continuum of care. Therefore, we have added a home health division (MaximaCare Home Health), a palliative care division (Ardent Supportive Care), and a home care division, (Ardent at Home). With the addition of these divisions, we can meet most of the post-acute care needs for you and your family in your home.
I started Ardent Hospice with my wife as my motivation to provide exceptional care and support in the patient’s home, where they are surrounded by family and where they feel most comfortable. I’m proud to say that our staff provides some of the best in home care in the Dallas-Ft. Worth area.
Please let us know if we can enrich the quality of life for you or a loved one.
Sincerely,
Jimmie Stapleton – Founder and CEO
Ardent Healthcare
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