Grief Counseling: Turning to Hospice for Help
By Michele Blandino
As difficult as it is to discuss or even think about, the death of a friend or family member is something each of us will need to face at one time or another. Whether death comes suddenly or is the result of a long-term illness, the finality of losing an important person in our life is something that few people are adequately equipped to handle.
The Role of Grief Counseling
After the loss of a friend or family member, many people will turn to grief counseling to help them come to terms with their loss. This is especially true when the person lost is a spouse, child or someone who held a significant place in our life.
As would be expected, grief counseling can take many forms; individual counseling, group sessions and Internet support groups are some of the venues where people can turn to help deal with the wide range of emotions that will inevitably surface.
What many people don’t realize, however, is that organizations such as Hospice that are typically associated with providing services to the terminally ill can help with the grieving process, even before death occurs.
The Many Roles of Hospice Care
Most of us associate hospice care with instances in which a person has a terminal illness and is in the last weeks of their life. While hospice care certainly is an option under these circumstances, hospice care is also available well before the patient reaches his or her last weeks.
Hospice is defined as by the Hospice Foundation of America as “a special concept of care designed to provide comfort and support to patients and their families when a life-limiting illness no longer responds to cure-oriented treatments.”
While the majority of hospice patients are in their last six months of life, hospice also provides services to patients with debilitating diseases such as MS, Alzheimer’s and other neurological diseases where although the patient may be several months or even years away from death, there is no hope of recovery. In these cases, the patient is still usually living at home and so, hospice workers make home visits, monitor vital signs, assist with feeding and bathing, administer certain medications and assess significant changes in the patient’s condition.
Help for Families
In addition to providing care for the patient, hospice workers can assist primary caregivers by arranging for respite care, obtaining specialized equipment needed for the patient’s care such as a hospital bed or wheelchair, scheduling doctor’s appointments and making any special arrangements needed for the patient’s care. In the event the primary caregiver becomes temporarily or permanently incapacitated by illness, hospice workers will assist the next-of-kin in making arrangements for the patient’s care, either in a nursing home or a hospice facility.
Hospice workers also work with the patient’s family to help them better understand what to expect during the patient’s last months as well as during the dying process. For families choosing to do so, hospice workers can also help pre-plan funeral arrangements.
For More Information:
There are a number of resources on the Internet which provide detailed information about hospice care as well as directories for helping you locate a hospice organization in your area. These sites also contain many excellent articles for caregivers who are struggling with their role and in dealing with the illness and impending death of their loved one. Here are a few:
