(Editor’s Note: Over the past few days, we’ve been sharing articles to help you with difficult decisions. The Hospice Institute of the Florida Suncoast shared the following article, courtesy of Caregiving at Life’s End: The National Train the Trainer Program, to help you make end-of-life decisions.)
Throughout the experience of caregiving you may be faced with making decisions with and for your care receiver about medical care and treatments. These decisions are not always easy or clear. Near life’s end people are often faced with decisions to accept or not accept care that could affect the quality of one’s life and/or the duration of one’s life. Depending on how advanced their illness is and the overall condition of your care receiver it may be appropriate to either accept treatments and/or choose not to accept treatments.
The first step is to know what your care recipient would want. Personal values, beliefs, and readiness for life closure all affect one’s choices and decisions. The following questions can be used as a guide to having the conversation with your care receiver so you are aware of their wishes before being faced with these decisions. Keep in mind that there are no right or wrong answers to these questions.
Would you want any care or treatments that prolong your life but do not add to the quality of your life?
If you could no longer eat for yourself…
If you could no longer breathe for yourself…
If your breathing or heart stopped…
Once you know your care recipient’s wishes, you can then advocate for those wishes within the healthcare system. The following questions may help you talk to healthcare professionals about medical decisions and know that you are advocating for their wishes.
* What are the goals of this treatment?
* Will this treatment cure him/her?
* What affect will this treatment have on his/her quality of life?
* What affect will this treatment have on his/her life expectancy?
* Will this treatment prolong his/her suffering?
If you are struggling to begin a conversation with family members about end-of-life care, contact your local Hospice organization; the organization will have staff trained to help your family communicate effectively.
I was just browsing around the site tonight and came across this article. My mother died just over a year ago and as difficult as our caregiving journey was it was even more difficult to make those end-of-life decisions.
I was so glad that we had had this discussion long before it was needed, but even knowing Mom’s final wishes it was still hard to follow through.
One of the most important things to remember about end-of-life care is that it really is the end. Letting go is not easy, but it is so necessary. Planning helps, but ultimately it comes down to finally saying goodbye.
As a caregiver, THAT was the hard part.
Paula Farris
.-= Paula Farris´s last blog ..Oct 1, Resources for the Dementia Caregiver =-.