Many people are wrong in believing that palliative care and hospice care are alike. On the contrary, hospice care is for persons who decide that they no longer want to treat their terminal illness, while palliative assistance is for patients that are willing to manage and improve a certain chronic condition. So for elderly who are interested in this type of care, let’s take a look at the benefits of palliative care for older adults.
Patient Education
Through palliative care, patients, as well as their family members and friends, are given a chance to learn about the treatment options that are available to them. This is one of the most overlooked benefits of this care. By knowing more about their state and the treatment both needed and available, it is easier for the family to create a health plan that would last and be useful at the same time.
Pain Management
Many seniors that go through chronic treatment for a disease also go through a lot of pain. Luckily for them, some relief comes from the fact that palliative care providers are focused on lowering the pain and giving elderly a better life quality. What’s important is to know that we are referring to both physical and psychological pain.
Source: www.practicalpainmanagement.com
Treats a Plethora of Conditions
Palliative services include dealing with a variety of chronic diseases. Like we said, it’s not only adept in dealing with physical conditions. Chronic states that palliative care deals with include Alzheimer’s disease, dementia, cardiovascular disease, respiratory disease, kidney failure, and multiple sclerosis.
Affordable
This type of care is usually covered by most insurance companies, including both Medicare and Medicaid. Thanks to this, it is affordable to most older adults. The only thing needed for their expenses to be covered by insurance is to have a physician’s referral.
Featured Image Source: healthydebate.ca
