In 1948 a physician named Dame Cicely Saunders started the first hospice, or facility designed to care for the dying. Eventually, she founded St. Christopher’s Hospice, an early model for today’s care centers. Unlike hospitals, facilities like Serenity Hospice & Palliative Care focus on making dying patients comfortable. Their Hospice Services in Sun City AZ allow patients to control their care. Facilities use a whole patient, team approach that also benefits families.
Hospice Care Offers Dignified Choices
Hospice Services in Sun City AZ allow patients to spend their last days doing the things they love without being hooked up to machines or undergoing painful treatments. This is in stark contrast to hospitals, which are designed for efficiency and concentrate on finding cures. Patients who have less than 6 months to live often investigate and arrange for hospice care at sites . They can choose home services or inpatient care. Patients or their designated family members have complete control over choices.
A Team Approach Benefits Patients
Once patients choose hospice, they are assigned teams of specialists who care for all of their needs. Comprehensive plans ensure that they get any needed physical, mental and spiritual help. Specialists like social workers, therapists, nurses, doctors and even clergy work with patients. Medical staff makes sure that patients get the medication needed to keep them as symptom free as possible.
Families Benefit From Hospice Services
The same experts who help hospice patients maintain a high quality of life also benefit their families. Relatives of patients getting at home care can arrange for respite services. Patients enjoy short stays at hospice facilities so that caregivers can take time for rest, to care for their own health issues, or tend to personal business. Many hospice specialists are available to provide solutions 24 hours a day. Families also have access to spiritual and bereavement services.
For more than 60 years hospice services have been allowing patients to die with dignity. The facilities use a team care approach that meets patients’ needs and keeps them comfortable. Hospice care extends to families, who have access to a variety of services designed to help them navigate difficult times.
Tweet us on Twitter!
