End-of-Life Care: 6 Tips to Maximize Comfort

Having a loved one nearing the end is quite painful and heartbreaking. As someone who cares about the person who is almost gone, you will want to provide them with as much comfort as possible in their last days on earth. If you are feeling helpless about the entire situation, then this guide is going to give you some great tips that will certainly make your loved one’s final days much better.

1. Be Present

One of the most important things to ensure their comfort is being present for your loved one in their final days. This can be done both emotionally and physically. Being around your loved ones during these hours shows them that there is someone who cares about and loves them, and it also helps you and your loved one deal with the anticipatory grief that you are sure to be experiencing. 

Listening to their stories and being there for them while they reminisce about their lives can give them endless amounts of comfort and ease their nerves in these stressful times. Having a person around to help with tasks that they can no longer do can also make a ton of difference in the quality of care being provided.

2. Provide Quality Hospice Care

While you will of course try to give as much care as you can, there are still some tasks that require professional help. Certified caregivers can provide better care for elderly people needing end-of-life care. If you are unsure where to start when it comes to choosing good hospice care, you can start looking up care providers in and around your area to ensure a prompt response. 

If you live in a specific city in Georgia such as Brunswick, then you can narrow it down further using an online search. Looking up hospice care in Brunswick, GA will help you figure out which caregiving services are provided by professionals near you and what kind of budget you will need to be working with. You may also want to find out if there is health insurance that will add a discount on these packages or if you will have to pay everything out of pocket.

3. Arrange Visits

Most people have affairs to settle before they leave this world. If you want to be a source of comfort for your loved ones, you should figure out who they will want to say goodbye to before they pass on. Setting up visits and contacting friends and family to pay their respects and show that they care can make a big difference in the mental state that your loved one is in by the end. You can start setting up a schedule for visits that do not clash with procedures or other routines that the person you are caring for has daily.

4. Provide Pain Relief

Unfortunately, some people suffer greatly from severe pain by the end. If you do not want your loved one to go through pain, you need to communicate with their health providers and specialists to ensure they are given high-quality medicine for pain relief. In such cases where the person is nearing the end, doctors are not concerned with addiction as much as making sure that their patient is comfortable and not experiencing any kind of pain that will stop them from enjoying their final days with their family and friends. 

Discussing the best pain medication that will make the person you are caring for feel no physical pain is crucial if you want to provide maximum comfort.

5. Look Out for Skin Issues

Due to the constant lying in bed that your elderly person is doing, there will be some skin issues that you need to look out for. For example, lying in bed for long hours can cause the formation of sores that make it uncomfortable for even the healthiest of people. Consistent massages, moisturizing, and moving your loved one around to stimulate blood flow can help decrease the risk of sores, dry skin, and discomfort. You should also make sure that the person you are caring for is well-hydrated to avoid dryness of the mouth and skin.

6. Put a Solid Plan for the Future

More often than not, people want to make sure that those they are leaving behind are cared for. Helping a person who needs end-of-life care put a plan in place for different procedures that need settling can make the person feel more at peace by the end. These plans can include writing a will, speaking about finances, debts, or even how the person would want their funeral preparations handled.

Using these six tips, you will be able to provide high-quality care for any loved one or elderly person needing comfort in his or her final days in the world. Although it may be hard to put aside your feelings of sadness because someone you love is going to be gone, you will rest easier knowing that he or she is given the best possible care and comfort. All you have to do is set a plan for your role as a caregiver to ensure the person you are caring for feels comforted until the very end.

We hope you found Simply Amazing Living's article “End-of-Life Care: 6 Tips to Maximize Comfort article image” helpful.

PIN IT!