Facilities | Guide to Successful Family Life

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Recent published research has shown that spending the last days of life at home with family is mentally healthier and less traumatic for the family.

The study found that families of patients with cancer, as well as the patients themselves, were more reconciled to death when the patient spent the final days of their live at home. Their suffering and stress were less because the quality of life for the patient was the best the family could make it.

However, even though cancer patients want to stay at home, up to one-third do not get that wish. Instead, they pass away in the hospital, and some even die in the intensive care unit. This type of care can be traumatic and very expensive, so it behooves families to listen to what the patient wants.

Aggressive medial care is not always the path to take. If there is no hope that the patient can recover and lead a meaningful life, then it is time to think about stopping the invasive medical care.

Hospice will come work with a patient and the family to enhance the patient’s quality of life as her time on Earth draws to a close. The health care givers are there to answer questions and help the family both during care and after treatment. They are educated in how to administer medications to ease pain.

One item of business you should discuss with a family member who has a serious illness is the advance directive. This document states what the individual wants to happen with medical care. The patient can discuss in detail preferemces about tube feeding, breathing machines and other invasive treatments. Donation of organs and tissues can also be included in the legal document.

Laws concerning advance directives are different in each state. Hospitals and health care attorneys can help direct you.

Should Senior Citizens Stay With Family?

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It is question that most families will face at some point or another. As parents and grandparents age, younger generations will be faced with the decision of who should be caring for them.

For most families, once an older member becomes unable to care for themselves in their own home, the choice is one between an assisted living facility and becoming a multi-generational home. Before any decision is made, it is really important to consider the needs and desires of all those involved and to look at the impact that whatever decision taken will have.

First of all, the senior citizen themselves will need to be asked what they would prefer. While some older people dread the idea of having to move into what they consider to be an “old people’s home,” others are mortified at the thought of becoming a burden to their families and wish to retain some independence and space. However, it is also important for other family members to be honest about their feelings on the issue. Moving a senior citizen into a home with a younger family can cause a number of issues. Privacy can become a problem, with older family members sometimes finding it hard to respect boundaries with family members they see simply as their children or grandchildren and who they are unable to view as independent adults.

Taking in an older relative can also tie you down and can make it hard to travel away from home, or in the case if the infirm, even spend longer periods of time out of the house. However, younger generations may also find that they cannot stand the idea of handing over responsibility for their relative to strangers.

The issue is a thorny one, but must be faced with complete honesty from all parties if a satisfactory decision is to be reached.

Dying at Home Better for Families

Should Senior Citizens Stay With Family?

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