Signing up your loved one for hospice care is an important decision. As such, you would want to get the right one for them to live out their days comfortably. But how do you get that best hospice care in California? Here is a quick guide on what you should consider.
Knowing When It Is Time To Sign Up For Hospice Care
The first thing that you need to weigh on is whether it is time to get hospice care. To decide that, you need to ask yourself three essential questions.
Is Your Loved One Facing Life-Limiting Diseases Or Conditions?
If your loved one has been diagnosed with any of the following illnesses, this will often be your first sign that they need hospice care services.
- Cancer
- Cardiac and circulatory diseases
- Respiratory diseases
- Stroke
- Dementia and other mental illnesses
- End-stage liver or kidney diseases
Note that not all of these illnesses are immediately life-threatening. However, depending on their progress, it might be difficult for you to manage it through home care. Hospices can better handle these conditions and care for your loved ones through better equipment.
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Is Your Loved One Showing Signs Of Decline?
Aside from the above diagnoses, your loved one might also have some general signs of decline. Here, they might show the following signs within the last 4-6 months.
- A loss of more than 10% of total body weight
- Hospitalized or taken to the emergency room more than three times
- Declining physical activity
- Declining mental cognition and alertness
- Presence of other comorbidities.
Beyond these signs, you might also observe that any curative treatment they are undertaking is not working anymore. At this point, their doctor might also diagnose that they only have six months or less to live.
Have You Considered Your Loved One’s Wishes?
Your loved one’s wishes should be your final consideration when thinking of providing them with hospice care. For instance, they might wish to stop treatment and hospitalization in favor of receiving palliative care.
Here, it is vital to have those wishes documented. That makes it easier for you to follow them and provides official proof of your would-be actions. An advanced care plan that includes the following can encapsulate those wishes.
- A last will
- A power of attorney for the health care provider
- A Five Wishes document
Aside from this, some states might also require other specific documents. Note that if your loved one can’t prepare this document themselves, you can do so on their behalf. But you need to get their explicit content.
Getting The Best Hospice Care In California
With all of the above questions answered, your next task is finding the right hospice care service for your loved one. For this, you need to consider several things. This will help you get the provider that best matches your loved one’s needs.
Location
The first of these considerations is location. Depending on the type of care you would want to get, the provider must have a facility near your home. This makes transportation a lot easier and also makes family visitation more sustainable.
Keep in mind that this is not about where their office is. Instead, you will need to look at the location their services cover. In the case of Amavi, we cover much of the San Francisco Bay area. Our nurses also live within this area, making it easier to connect with on-call ones if needed.
The Type Of Personnel Employed
All hospice care providers offer the same fundamental kinds of care services. However, they might differ in the specific professionals they employ. For instance, some hospice providers might not have specialists for certain conditions. Instead, they partner with medical institutions to access such experts.
Here, you must know what personnel your loved one will need exactly. Their doctor will often provide you that information during diagnosis as part of their endorsement for hospice care. You can then use that info to screen candidate providers.
At Amavi, we have a large team of specialists under our roof. You can sign up for registered nurses, physical therapists, and nursing aides. Additionally, we are affiliated with a large number of medical institutions within California. That means we can get you connected with specific medical practitioners depending on your loved one’s needs.
Multiple Levels Of Care
Another important consideration when getting hospice care services is the levels of care that they can provide. Note that there are four different levels available for you.
- Hospice care at home
- Continuous care
- Inpatient hospice care
- Respite care
Each provider implements these levels differently. Some might not even offer some levels. Your chosen provider must be able to deliver not just the appropriate care level needed at the moment but also in the future. For instance, while your loved one might prefer now, they could eventually shift to inpatient care. YOur provider should be able to make that shift without much work.
Wellness Approach
One thing to keep in mind when looking for the best hospice care in California is that it isn’t just about symptom management. Rather, it seeks to give patients greater dignity in facing their situation. As such, it should take a more holistic approach to improve quality of life.
That means a good hospice provider should also have several key support services. These include:
- Psychological support: A team of counselors that can help a patient and their family cope with the situation.
- Emotional support: These counselors can also help you better manage your emotions during these times.
- Spiritual support: Some hospices also have attached chaplain services that families can turn to as they try to find meaning in what is happening to their loved ones.
- Grief care: Coming to terms with a loved one’s passing also requires special attention from experts to help you move forward.
Amavi offers all of these key services to help our wards get the quality of life they wish. And we can fully customize these to suit your loved one’s wishes.
Amavi Offers The Best Hospice Care In California
When you see all of these considerations met by a provider, you can be sure that you are getting the right one. And we at Amavi have committed ourselves to fulfill all of these for you. Get the best hospice care in California by signing up with us, and give your loved one a quality end of life.