It’s never easy when someone you love is diagnosed with Dementia or Alzheimer’s disease. It’s a disease that affects not only the person diagnosed; it affects everyone around them and it’s easy to feel hopeless at times.
In the late 1950s, Dr. Cicely Saunders decided to devote a significant portion of her practice toward individuals suffering from chronic and life-threatening diseases, based on careful observation of her patients. She advocated that only a specialized, interdisciplinary team could relieve the “total pain” of a patient. This team concept is still at the very core of Palliative care.
These days, more and more Seniors are choosing to age at home rather than move into a nursing facility. It used to be common practice to abandon cherished homes in order to move into assisted living or nursing homes where people often feel anonymous and isolated from their outside lives.
It used to be common practice and even an expectation that Seniors would eventually leave their homes and move into assisted living or nursing home facilities. However, with the myriad of resources and home health care services available today, many Seniors are choosing to stay in their homes, where they feel most comfortable and independent.
Working with Seniors who have Dementia, Alzheimer’s disease, or other mental illnesses is as challenging as it is rewarding. To be able to provide care and companionship in a professional and compassionate manner for families affected by Dementia is a rare and special gift.
Palliative care is a holistic approach to health care when someone has been diagnosed with a life-threatening or critical illness. The ultimate goal of Palliative Care is to relieve patients from pain be it physical or emotional.
If you’re thinking about including Palliative Care as part of your loved one’s healthcare plan, consider what qualities to look for when you’re hiring in-home Caregivers.
When an individual is diagnosed with cancer, they need support from many different outlets, including friends, family, and a trusted team of healthcare providers. If someone you love has been diagnosed with cancer, and you’re thinking about healthcare options, there are many facets to consider.
More than 40% of Canadians over the age of 65 suffer from memory loss. When there is no underlying medical condition causing this loss of memory, it is known as "age-associated memory impairment," which is considered a part of the normal aging process.
Touch is the very first sense we acquire, and it can often be taken for granted. Its healing power is immense, and studies have shown that there are healthful benefits for patients receiving Palliative Care in nonverbal communication such as a squeeze of the hand, a gentle hug, or various forms of skin-to-skin contact. Massage therapy originated in ancient China, and has been practiced for thousands of years to ease physical and mental stress. It is suggested that touch releases hormones in the body and it creates a sense of emotional connection. The healing and health benefits of massage therapy are numerous, and for those in Palliative Care, it provides a unique sense of comfort that is unlike any other type of therapy, particularly if a patient experiences painful symptoms from illnesses or treatments such as Chemotherapy. When curative treatment is no longer appropriate, the significance is placed on measuring [...]
