More Than Basic Care: Finding the Place That’s Right for You
You want to make sure your mom or dad receives the best care they can toward the end of their lives. You’ve heard that hospice care isn’t just for the final few days, and you want to get help now.
The only problem is, you don’t know where to start. Your doctor gave you a few suggestions on local services, and you looked up their websites, but they all seem the same to you.
How do you make the choice that’s right for your parent and your family? Look for the service with care that goes above and beyond the basics.
There are certain things every hospice facility is required to include with its service. For example, every patient will have a face-to-face visit with the hospice’s own physician or nurse practitioner within the first 180 days of stay.
Hospice staff like nurses, social workers, and chaplains will develop a plan of care for each patient. The patient’s own doctor and caregiver – and the patient themselves, when possible – will also contribute to the plan. It describes what will be done for the patient and how often. It’s updated regularly to make sure it’s still relevant.
Care is unique for each patient, but nearly every patient receives routine home care. They’re visited in their homes by aides on a regular schedule. Physicians and registered nurses are also available to make visits. End-of-life care is all about making people more comfortable, and few places are as comfortable as a person’s own home.
Many patients receive service where they live, but we have sites for those who need more attention or treatment they can’t receive in their own home: Rose Arbor Place in Kalamazoo and Glenn Arbor Place in Battle Creek.
That’s some of what you should expect from any hospice system. But Centrica Care Navigators does much more than just meeting each patient and caregiver’s basic needs.
Our logo features a circle for a reason: We focus on our patients as a whole person. They’re not just their illness; they deserve care for their mind, body, and spirit.
We also offer several exclusive specialty therapies for eligible patients.
- Massage therapy: Massage can be helpful to everyone, whether they’re a hospice patient or not. Massage relaxes muscles and decreases pain, and it also helps patients feel calm.
- Music therapy: A singer and musician, often a guitarist, visits a patient to help keep them active and communicating with other people.
- Pet therapy: Almost everyone likes visiting with animals. Specially trained dogs sit quietly with patients and are there to be petted and played with, if a patient wants to.
We’ll dig deeper into each of these in future blog posts.
Centrica Care Navigators is also where you’ll find some of the most skilled and experienced specialists in southwest Michigan. Our nurses, social workers, and hospice aides have extensive training with Centrica Care Navigators and also meet state requirements.
We work hard to make sure every patient gets the time and attention they need and deserve.
There’s more to hospice care than doctor visits and resting quietly. Centrica Care Navigators understands the kinds of support that will best help caregivers, and why it needs to go beyond the basics.
Discover more here on our website, join us on social media, or call us at 269.345.0273.
Our Mission is to guide and support individuals and their caregivers coping with illness, aging, dying, and loss by providing compassionate medical, emotional, spiritual, and personal care.
