Comfort Care and Quality of Life
What does Quality of Life mean for you? For a 98 year old, nearly blind, and unable to pee without a ‘stent’ in place, it’s being comfortably positioned in the warmth of her garden, with tissues and a cup of tea within reach. A proud woman, she doesn’t like calling her health aids ‘caregivers’ because it makes her sound needy. Instead, they’re companions and a chauffeur.
What does ‘Comfort’ mean to you? Sometimes comfort comes of small pleasures: a loving touch, soothing music. For the 80-year old wheelchair bound man, it’s stroking his cat and getting his feet massaged.
Comfort can take on a different meaning as life winds down: shortness of breath, skincare, dry mouth, constipation along with pain and anxiety. Ensuring these needs are known, and are met, can make the difference to both patient and caregiver.
End of Life in Long Term Care: Personal Support Workers
Personal Support Workers (PSWs) Rock and Rule Anyone who’s needed practical help with daily living when in a health situation knows that it’s not the doctor or nurse you turn to or rely on. Whether at home, or in a health facility, the day to day care delivery falls...
Things I’ve learned from dying
Living, knowing you are going to die Drawn, as I am, to learning ever more about how we die, and how ‘one’ dies, this David Dow title, "Things I've learned from Dying " had me at ‘hello’ Dow – who is very much alive - is a death row lawyer in Texas . He writes...
Pain as a Cause of Agitated Delirium
"Can't you do something about her pain?" An 85-year-old woman with multiple medical problems, including dementia, coronary artery disease, renal insufficiency, and peripheral vascular disease, was admitted to our hospital with urosepsis. Her hospital course was...
Dignity Therapy at Life’s End: Thank you Dr Harvey Chochinov
Dignity Conserving Care asks at life’s end: ‘What do I need to know about you as a person to give you the best care possible?’ To give an answer as a person, rather than as a health condition is a focus-changer for providers and for patients alike. As a patient –...
