Health

Major life decisions have always been a challenging topic for anyone, especially if it’s a conversation about end of life care of a loved one. It may not be easy, but talking about hospice and palliative care in advance can help the whole family make an informed decision without hassle and stress. But the big question here is this: how can you talk to someone about hospice care? As with any life-changing decision, it’s crucial to have an open, calm, and honest discussion about it. It’s also essential to gather facts first and learn how hospice care can benefit a loved one. Read on below as we give tips on how to have a productive conversation with a loved one about hospice care.  When Should You Start the Conversation? According to studies, starting hospice care early on allows patients to reap its full benefits, thus improving one’s quality of life. So ideally, talk of any end-of-life care plans should start when your loved one is still healthy and able to make decisions for themselves. Unfortunately, this is not always the case. More often than not, hospice care will only be brought up when sudden medical crises happen. Some examples of the circumstances that may trigger the conversation include: When the patient or loved one has been Read More

Having a chronic, ultimately terminal, illness takes away a lot of one’s freedom to choose. For example, the choice to eat any food you want, to travel, or do your favorite activities. But there’s one thing you or your loved one still have control over一the kind of comfort care and end-of-life plan you want. One such example is palliative care. The 5 stages of palliative care aim to improve the quality of life of patients with chronic or terminal diseases. This type of care focuses on managing the condition’s symptoms along with specific treatments intended to cure the illness.  But above all, palliative care aims to honor one’s wishes and individual needs regarding their medical care. Learn more about palliative care and its five stages by reading our in-depth discussion below. What Is Palliative Care? Palliative care refers to a type of long-term care that provides pain management and symptom relief for patients with chronic illnesses. It also involves improving the patient’s quality of life by focusing on their physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual needs. All these efforts may be made together with medical treatments focused on curing the severe disease itself.  Palliative care also benefits the patient’s family and loved ones by providing emotional and spiritual support. Here are some of the specific services you Read More

We at Cardinal Hospice pride ourselves on offering outstanding end-of-life care. As such, our priority is protecting our patients and our team members from exposure to COVID-19. With the firm understanding that our population is high-risk for coronavirus transmission, we have implemented a number of safeguards to maximize patient and provider health: We are following all of the guidance from the Centers for Disease Control to the letter. We are monitoring local government guidance and county-level news for recommendations. We have recommitted our staff to proper hand-washing habits and are providing personal protective equipment to staff. We are confident in our ability to minimize risk for patients. Please feel free to contact us with questions or concerns at any time.