If you are a CDPAP caregiver helping a sick or elderly loved one obtain end of life care, you have many options.
Your friend or family member’s medical condition is certainly important, but you should also consider their preferences, including privacy and socializing.
With that in mind, this article will assist you with making an informed decision based on what your loved one needs and prefers.
What are the goals of end of life care?
Although the specific goals of end of life care depend on your loved one’s circumstances, there are some general benefits that apply to most patients. Among them are the following:
- End of life care ensures that the patient has a good quality of life while they receive treatment for a serious illness or wait to pass away.
- To decide on a treatment plan for your family member or friend and determine when it no longer works.
- Your sick loved one gets the opportunity to reflect on their life.
- The patient may spend valuable and quality time with people who are close to them.
- As a caregiver, end of life care presents you with the opportunity to provide your loved one with emotional and psychological support, especially if they are uncomfortable or unhappy.
- Family members, friends, and relatives can say goodbye to their ill loved one.
- You and other caregivers can help your sick loved one with eating, breathing regularly, and any personal care that they may require.
- You ensure that the patient gets all their medications and at the right times.
Luckily, there are several types of end of life care support that you and your loved one could take advantage of. Every one of them offers unique services. You want to pick the one that suits the goals and needs of the patient.
Options for End of Life Care
The list of options below will give you an idea of the services that you can expect to get with each type of end of life care.
Consumer Directed Personal Assistance Program (CDPAP)
The main benefit of hiring a CDPAP caregiver is that the aides will come to your family member or friend’s residence. The alternative choices, meanwhile, require you to take them to an end of life care facility.
Here is how CDPAP caregivers can support your loved one as they age or when they become ill:
- Assist them with day-to-day activities, such as showering, getting dressed, and making food.
- Do some or all of the patient’s chores, such as laundry.
- Give them their medication at the designated times.
- Run errands for your sick family member or friend. For example, grocery shopping.
- Provide around-the-clock support by having a CDPAP aid sleep at your loved one’s residence when needed.
Above all, CDPAP programs permit Medicaid recipients to hire family members or friends as caregivers. That is to say, you could get paid to work as the CDPAP caregiver of your parent, grandparent, adult child, friend, or relative.
While hiring a CDPAP aid (whether the patient has a personal relationship with them or not) has a lot of benefits, you want to consider other options if your loved one is in a critical condition.
Hospice
This form of end of life care is designed for patients who have less than 6 months to live.
Your loved one may receive hospice care at their house or apartment from caregivers. However, on many occasions, patients will need to stay at a nursing home, hospital, or hospice center.
Most people who receive this care have advanced illnesses that can’t be cured. The goal of hospice care is to make the sick person comfortable and maintain a good quality of life for them during their final weeks or months, especially since they won’t be given any treatments.
Palliative Care
Palliative care, on the other hand, is for patients who are getting treated for a serious condition or disease. Just as with hospice care, palliative services can be provided at your loved one’s residence (through a caregiver), a nursing home, a hospice care center, or a hospital.
Group Home
When your family member or friend needs support, but more than what a caregiver can deliver, group homes are an alternative option. These facilities offer various forms of care for 24 hours a day and 7 days a week.
Here are the areas that your loved one can get assistance with at a group home:
- Access to emergency services whenever they require it
- Bathing and showering
- Eating
- Getting dressed
- Going to the toilet
- Managing medications
Group homes are usually small, and they house between 5 and 10 residents (but no more than 20).
Assisted Living Facility
These entities are bigger than group homes and they host a larger number of residents. However, your loved one might be able to reside in their own room and living quarters. In other words, assisted living facilities offer a greater degree of privacy.
Equally as important, your friend or family member will have access to support around the clock and on all days of the week. Yet they may get less personalized or one-on-one care than they would at a group home.
Nursing Home
Nursing homes specifically focus on providing residents with ongoing medical care, alongside the aid with day-to-day activities that group homes and assisted living facilities offer.
Nurses and medical professionals are usually available on-site at nursing homes. The staff will also keep an eye on your friend or family member for 24 hours per day and give them their 3 daily meals.
Your loved one could temporarily reside in a nursing home, but some patients live there as long-term residents. This depends on their medical condition.
If the person that you’re caring for just underwent surgery or a medical procedure, they would stay at a nursing home until they recover. After that, if they no longer require the medical services, the patient may hire a caregiver at home or move to another facility.
Retirement Communities
Retirement communities cover a wide variety of services. They house patients who want all types of aid, ranging from independent living to daily assistance.
Some people move into a retirement community in order to keep their social lives active after they retire. Others may do so because they require help as they get older.
Moreover, patients that need support due to a debilitating condition and, at the same time, want more opportunities to socialize than the ones they would find at other care facilities, might prefer to reside in a retirement community.
In short, your loved one’s personal preferences and medical condition will define their best option.
Hiring an at-home CDPAP caregiver is ideal for those who want to continue to live at their place of residence during their final years. Nonetheless, patients that have serious illnesses may find hospice and palliative care facilities to be more suitable.
If your loved one values socializing, group homes and assisted living facilities will provide them with both ongoing care and plenty of opportunities to engage with residents. Nursing homes also do so, but with a specific focus on patients who need medical attention and support.
Last, but certainly not least, are retirement homes, which may combine one or more of the advantages that your sick family member or friend would enjoy at the other facilities.
With that in mind, you can now sit down with your loved one and make an informed decision about the type of care that suits them best based on what we outlined in this article.