How Hospice Supports Overwhelmed Families

When a loved one is terminally ill, it’s an emotionally and physically draining time for them and their loved ones. Part of the beauty of hospice care is that it’s not just for the patient. The hospice team is there to support the entire family.

Hospice family care begins with the first call for information. The team at Crossroads Hospice & Palliative Care will ask questions to learn more about your loved one’s current condition. In this conversation, we will provide information on the signs and symptoms that tell us it might be time for hospice. This is your opportunity to learn more about the services hospice provides including hospice family support.

Starting Hospice

Hospice care can be provided anywhere your loved one resides, but in most cases that will either be a family home or an assisted living facility.

For patients living in an assisted living facility, hospice supports your family and facility staff by providing an increased level of care. Our experience in end-of-life care provides your family with an extra set of eyes and ears tracking symptoms and increasing visits as needed. In addition to nurses and aides, your loved one will receive visits from a chaplain, a social worker, and volunteers to ensure they have all the physical, emotional, and spiritual support they need.

For patients living at home, our hospice team supplements the care that family is already providing. Our staff visit on a routine basis to manage your loved one’s symptoms and support the family. All medication, medical equipment, and medical supplies related to your loved one’s hospice diagnosis are delivered to the home at no cost to the patient or family. Our staff will provide training to the family on how to use everything provided and on how to provide your loved one with the best care when our nurses and aides are not in the home.

We’re your 911. 

Caring for a loved one with a terminal illness can be a stressful experience. Their symptoms can change quickly. This is why Crossroads is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week to answer your questions and visit your loved one to ensure symptoms are managed.

Instead of calling an ambulance or bundling your loved one off to an ER or urgent care, you can call us. We can help keep your loved one home with you where they want to be while managing their symptoms and ensuring they have the right level of care.

Respite Care

We understand that even with extra help in the home, caregiving can still be overwhelming for family caregivers. This is why hospice family care offers the option of short-term respite care when a caregiver needs a break to recharge their own batteries. Under respite care, your loved one can be checked into a care facility like a nursing home for a few days, so the caregiver can take some time for themselves to get some needed rest and time away from demands of caregiving.

Ongoing Hospice Family Care

Grief is a natural response to the loss of a loved one. Every loss is different and every grief response is unique. Our team of bereavement coordinators are available to support families through their grief. There is no timeline for grief, so we stay in touch to make sure you have all the care and support you need. In addition to individual support, we offer complimentary Grief Recovery Groups in all the communities we serve.

To learn more about the family grief support we provide, please call 1-888-564-3405.  

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