Palliative, Hospice & End of Life Care at Home
What is Palliative Care?
Palliative care is specialized medical care for people with serious illnesses. It focuses on relieving stress, symptoms, and discomfort to improve life for both patients and families. Unlike treatments that aim to cure, palliative care is about comfort and quality of life.
A specially trained team of nurses, doctors, and specialists works alongside your other doctors to offer extra support tailored to your needs, no matter your prognosis.
What’s Included in Palliative Care?
Palliative care can include:
Managing pain, shortness of breath, nausea, fatigue, and other symptoms
Emotional and spiritual support for patients and families
Practical help with meals, transportation, shopping, and day-to-day tasks
Connecting you with resources for coping and planning ahead
Referrals to other doctors and specialists
Respite care to give family caregivers a break
Advanced care planning and discussing your future wishes
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Explore comprehensive in-home care services from Serving Hands Senior Care. Discover how our compassionate caregivers support seniors with personal care, companionship, 24-hour care, and more to help maintain independence and quality of life.
What Issues Does Palliative Care Address?
Palliative care addresses many areas of concern:
Physical Needs:
Helps manage pain, loss of appetite, vomiting, shortness of breath, and other symptoms, as well as side effects from treatments.
Spiritual Needs:
Supports you whether you find strength in your faith or have new questions about your beliefs.
Emotional and Coping Needs:
Helps manage anxiety, depression, fear, and other emotions that come with a serious illness.
Practical Needs:
Offers help with insurance questions, financial worries, employment concerns, and setting care goals.
Caregiver Needs:
Provides respite care and emotional support to family caregivers.
When is Palliative Care Appropriate?
Palliative care can begin at any stage of a serious illness, such as cancer, Alzheimer’s, dementia, Parkinson’s, COPD, heart disease, stroke, kidney failure, and more.
Providing exceptional Palliative, Hospice and End of Life Care at Home for seniors and families in Spruce Grove, Stony Plain, St. Albert, Edmonton and surrounding areas. We are an AHS approved agency for the Client Directed Home Care Invoicing Program.
Benefits of Palliative Care
Palliative care has many proven benefits, including:
Improved quality of life and mood
Better symptom control and relief of suffering
Helps you align your care with your personal goals
Works alongside treatments to make them more effective and tolerable
One study of patients with advanced lung cancer found that early palliative care improved quality of life, reduced aggressive treatments at the end of life, and even increased survival.
What is Hospice Care?
Hospice care is a special type of palliative care provided when a doctor believes a person has six months or less to live and treatments to cure the illness have stopped. Hospice focuses fully on comfort and dignity at the end of life, ensuring that you spend your final months with peace and support.
Hospice care can take place at home or in a dedicated hospice facility, depending on your needs and wishes.
Read the kind words from previous clients. Our testimonials help families discover how dedicated we are to customer satisfaction.
How Do Palliative, Hospice, and End-of-Life Care Work Together?
Palliative care, hospice care, and end-of-life care are closely connected:
Palliative Care: Can start at any time alongside treatments, focusing on comfort and quality of life.
Hospice Care: A specific form of palliative care for the final stage of life, focusing solely on comfort when treatments to cure have stopped.
End-of-Life Care: The care and support provided in the final phase of life, often including hospice services and other palliative support.
What to Look for When Hiring a Home Health Palliative Care Provider
When looking for a palliative home health care provider, here are some questions you should ask:
- Are you licenced?
- What type of employee screening do you do?
- Do your home health aides have references?
- How do you train and monitor caregivers?
- How do you handle billing?
- When will services be provided?
Frequently Asked Questions About Palliative Care at Home
Yes! Palliative care can be delivered in various settings, including the comfort of your home, a hospital, or a care facility. At-home palliative care allows individuals to receive personalized support while remaining in familiar surroundings.
End-of-life care is an umbrella term that includes all the support and comfort measures offered in a person’s final stage of life, whether through hospice care, palliative care, or other services. Hospice care is a specialized type of end-of-life care focused entirely on comfort and dignity for people with a prognosis of six months or less.
Hospice care is considered when a doctor estimates a person has six months or less to live and when they choose to stop curative treatments. Signs it might be time for hospice include increased hospitalizations, worsening symptoms, and a focus on comfort rather than cure.
No. While it’s often associated with cancer care, palliative care is available for anyone with a serious illness, including heart failure, dementia, COPD, kidney disease, and many more.
In Alberta, palliative and hospice care may be funded through Alberta Health Services (AHS) Palliative Care Teams, the Client Directed Home Care Invoicing (CDHCI) program, and the Rural Palliative Care In-Home Funding Program (for rural residents). In addition, the following programs can help with medication, equipment, and travel costs:
Alberta Cancer Foundation Patient Financial Assistance Program
Canadian Cancer Society Financial Assistance
Canadian Red Cross Health Equipment Loan Program
Give A Mile Compassionate Flight Assistance Program
Private insurance may also cover some services, or individuals may choose private pay options. At Serving Hands Senior Care, we offer flexible support options, including both subsidized and private end-of-life care services. For help understanding your options, please contact us directly.
Bathing and Grooming
At Serving Hands Senior Care, our palliative care workers help you look and feel your best. They make bath time, grooming and personal care services just right for enhancing mental as well physical wellbeing. Feeling clean and fresh not only cleanses the skin but also provides relaxation and stimulates circulation, as well as enhancing self-esteem.
Repositioning and Transferring
Our caregivers are trained to move and place clients in correct posture / position so they can promote better health. This reduces the risk of skin damage, encourages proper breathing patterns, takes stress off pressure points, and helps with digestion.
Toileting and Incontinence Assistance
At Serving Hands Senior Care, our caregivers respectfully, and gently care for seniors, helping them maintain dignity while they get help with toileting and incontinence issues. Because we use a dignified approach and a caring attitude- our caregivers help to decrease embarrassment surrounding the need for assistance related to incontinence and toileting.
Feeding and Nutrition
Seniors may need help feeding themselves or even being prompted to eat. This loss of natural hunger urges or of functional ability can be physically and mentally challenging to accept. We understand this and take the time to turn mealtime into an enjoyable experience.
Serving Hands caregivers help seniors stay on specific diets to assist with a wide variety of medical conditions such as heart disease and diabetes. Our caregivers enable clients to have a well-balanced meal that provides the nutrition needed for staying active and preventing further disease issues.
Family involvement is encouraged! Care teams collaborate with family members to understand the patient’s wishes, provide education, and offer respite care and emotional support to family caregivers.
Learn what sets us apart from the rest. Our mission, vision, values and training have allowed us to shine.
Serving Hands Senior Care provides in-home care and compassionate caregivers so you have the peace of mind knowing your loved ones are covered. We are an AHS approved vendor for the Client Directed Home Care Invoicing Program.
