Support During Serious Illness: You Have Options
When an advanced illness touches someone you love, it’s not easy to know where to turn for help or what the best options might be for both them and your family. While there are many choices to consider, most families are not aware of the full breadth of options available to them—and many of those options are surrounded by misconceptions.
One myth is that there must be a choice to end curative treatment in order to get help and support during a serious illness. But options like palliative care and other community resources are available to individuals not yet ready for hospice, even while they seek curative care.
The following are some of the options available to you, listed in order of increasing levels of support and care.
Nonmedical support: Delaware Transitions
The first option is to enlist nonmedical help for coping with and managing your situation. Delaware Transitions provides free non-medical support for individuals with serious illnesses such as: heart disease, stroke, Alzheimer’s disease, cancer, Parkinson’s disease, liver and lung disease, and kidney failure.
In Delaware Transitions, we help families align community resources that they may not even know exist. We also assist with potentially beneficial lifestyle changes that families can consider to address the challenges they are facing. Our volunteers can provide companionship, assistance, and even transportation to lighten the caregiver’s load. All of these are offered at no charge and according to the family’s preferences.
Care while pursuing a cure: Delaware Palliative
Another option to consider is palliative care. Widely misunderstood, palliative care can be provided for individuals receiving active curative treatment for a serious illness. Palliative care takes a wholistic approach to your family’s situation. It’s appropriate for people of any age at any stage of their disease, beginning as early as diagnosis.
Delaware Palliative’s interdisciplinary team works side by side with an individual’s physician to control the symptoms of the disease, reduce anxiety, and ensure that the whole family get the best care and support possible. Palliative care is available prior to or without choosing the hospice benefit.
Comfort care at home: Delaware Hospice
At some point, many families choose to focus on providing comfort care that meets the physical, emotional, and spiritual needs of their loved ones. This is when to consider home-based hospice care.
Delaware Hospice’s nurses are uniquely trained to control pain and reduce distressing symptoms. This helps patients continue to embrace the very experiences that bring them meaning and joy for as long as possible. Our team of experts also provides family caregivers with much-needed support. Contrary to popular belief, hospice is not about giving up, it’s about embracing the time that remains for the whole family.
Hospital care alternative: Delaware Hospice Center
If symptoms progress to the point that they are difficult to manage at home, it might be time to consider care in a specially equipped hospice facility.
At the Delaware Hospice Center, we provide short-term care for symptom management. An alternative to hospital care, the Delaware Hospice Center combines state-of-the-art technology with specialized, expert care in a spacious and tranquil environment. Our interdisciplinary team provides around-the-clock care, resources, and support, all with unlimited visiting hours. At the Delaware Hospice Center, families are given the opportunity to spend meaningful time together in the peace and quiet of a home-like environment.
When you find yourself facing new challenges managing your own or your loved one’s illness, it may be time to contact us. Getting Delaware Hospice on your team early on can help achieve a real continuum of care, and research suggests that such a continuum enhances well-being. Our knowledgeable staff will help you find the options, answers, and solutions your family needs.