It would help so much if there were definitive goalposts to help you and your family members to understand when it’s time for your elderly family member to enter hospice services. Every situation is slightly different, though, and you’re also trying to make sure that you meet your senior’s needs on as many levels as possible. It helps to keep some of these factors in mind when you’re making these big decisions.

Your Senior’s Physical Health Has Declined Significantly

If your elderly family member’s health has taken a shift for the worse, either seemingly overnight or over a longer span of time, she may feel like there is not much else she can really do about that. Hospice elder care can help her to have additional ways to manage those new symptoms that she may be experiencing. Problems such as losing too much weight, experiencing constant shortness of breath, and other issues just make her existing health problems feel more complicated.

Or Her Cognitive Health Has Significantly Changed

But it isn’t just physical health. Your senior’s cognitive health can also be a huge indicator of how well she’s doing. If she sees big changes, especially reduction, in her cognitive health, it might be time to consider changes like hospice care. Cognitive changes can be a result of illnesses like Alzheimer’s disease, but there are other possible causes, including things you wouldn’t suspect, like hearing loss or diabetes. These illnesses can affect her overall health to the point that her brain health also can suffer.

Your Senior Is Ready to Stop Curative Treatments

Curative therapies and treatments have their place and they’re a big part of your elderly family member’s care plan, probably for a long time. If those treatments become too much for your senior, she might opt to stop them. Some of the treatments that she may have counted on making a difference for her health may feel as if they take more out of her than they offer back in terms of quality of life. Hospice treatments can shift things for her so that your elderly family member can focus on being comfortable instead.

Your Senior Is Even Closer to the End of Her Life

If your elderly family member’s doctor has let her know that she’s even closer to the end of her life than she expected, hospice may feel like a better option. Your senior’s doctor may recommend hospice care when her lifespan is estimated to be six months or less. That doesn’t mean that your senior’s doctor is definitively saying she’ll only live for the next six months and if hospice care needs to be extended, your senior can be recertified to receive that type of care.

Talk with your elderly family member’s doctor about your concerns with your senior’s overall health and her needs. When hospice elder care is the right choice, you’ll have several markers that help you to understand that it really is time to embrace that sort of treatment plan.

If you or an aging loved-one are considering hiring Senior Care in Turnersville, NJ, please contact the caring staff at Attentive Care Inc. at 1-800-493-5660