2019 National Home Care and Hospice Month: Why Hospice Care is Invaluable to Family Caregivers

When Bill discovered that his mother, a current Concordia at Cabot Retirement Living resident, was in need of hospice care after receiving several unexpected diagnoses, he, like most people, had no idea what to expect.

Hospice care begins after a patient is no longer undergoing curative treatment, and provides many resources like regular healthcare check-ins from a nursing team, consistent health evaluations, medication management, diet consultation and assistance with activities of daily living (ADL) and independent activities of daily living (IADL). Additionally, as Bill experienced, hospice care offers invaluable support to family members, particularly family caregivers.

“Being a family caregiver is not an easy walk in the park,” Bill explained. “We have been able handle several tasks for my mom including grocery deliveries, financial management as well as general health advocacy.”

For Bill, Good Samaritan Hospice provided his mom, a former Cardiac Intensive Care Unit RN, with the tools she needed to continue living independently with the support of her family by her side.

“None of our family members are trained medical professionals aside from my mom,” Bill said. “She knows what the elements of excellent nursing care consist of. Because no one in the family has a medical background aside from her, this is a huge gap in care that has been filled by the Good Samaritan Hospice staff.”

His advice to other family caregivers going through a similar situation is to ensure that there are resources in place to help when necessary.

“The advice I would provide is to take the first small step and ask the questions of what services can Good Samaritan provide, and is my family member eligible,” Bill said. “Once you take the first step, Good Samaritan picks it up from there and sets up an informational interview with no commitment required. The peace of mind we have experienced since the beginning of my mom’s care is immeasurable and we can now focus on providing support to her as family members.”

To learn more about Bill’s story, and his family’s experience with Good Samaritan Hospice, listen to his recent interview (along with GSH Executive Director Roni Lucas) with WISR Butler Radio Network.

For information on the services provided through Good Samaritan Hospice, a mission of Concordia, and Concordia Hospice of Washington, call us at 724-933-8888 (GSH) or 724-250-4500 (CHOW), or contact us any time via our online contact form. If you have a question about how we can help your loved one or if you want to learn more about the different services we offer, visit the care levels & services page of our website.