End-of-Life Care at Cedar Creek Memory Care Homes
Specialized memory care homes provide a critical service to older adults struggling with dementia and memory-related conditions. These assisted living communities ensure your loved one receives the highest level of care from people who understand how to deal with memory loss and related symptoms.
As residents age in place, they may decline to the point where their condition is deemed terminal. At this point, they may need end-of-life care, such as palliative or hospice services. End-of-life care includes pain and symptom management, disbursement of medication, emotional support and assistance with the activities of daily living, among others.
At Cedar Creek Memory Care Homes, we understand the importance of letting our residents enjoy the stability of our home throughout their lives. This is why we introduced end-of-life care for residents who chose not to receive heavily invasive medical treatments.
What Is End-of-Life Care?
Hospice and palliative care are both considered end-of-life care. These are health care services given to patients who’ve received a terminal diagnosis. Hospice and palliative care can be offered anywhere — private homes, nursing homes, assisted living facilities or hospitals (for a patient who needs significant medical treatment).
Hospice care can begin when a patient has met certain criteria, received a prognosis of 6 months or less, and has opted not to have curative treatment. Assisted Living staff and a hospice team can work together to offer both services in one place to allow residents to continue to receive the care they need in a familiar environment.
Palliative care is slightly different because it can include medical and curative treatments or interventions according to an individuals end of life needs. Palliative care can also be provided in an assisted living environment, offering familiary and comfort to residents who choose to receive this service.
Both services include caring for the person’s emotional, spiritual and psychosocial support needs to improve their quality of life.
Benefits of End-of-Life Care at
Cedar Creek Assisted Living Homes
Memory-Care Residents With Terminal Diagnoses Can Age in Place
Many older adults have expressed the desire for stability as they get older, which is why settings that allow them to age in place are growing in popularity. When end-of-life care becomes necessary, the hospice and assisted living caregivers collaborate to offer residents increasing levels of care until their final days.
Families of Terminally Ill Residents Can Receive Support
Hospice care provides approaches to support the terminally ill resident from a holistic perspective. This means providing everything they might need to improve their quality of life. Therefore, hospice caregivers can help families through end-of-life decisions, estate planning and even anticipatory grief counseling to help them make peace with their loved one’s impending death.
Covered By Insurance in Many Instances
Most health insurance policies, including Medicare, cover the cost of hospice care at assisted living facilities. Medicare offers “comfort care,” which alleviates pain and discomfort when an ailing person stops responding to treatment. For Medicare to cover hospice care, the resident must:
- Be at least 65 years old
- Be diagnosed with a severe or terminal illness
- Have a certified doctor’s report stating their prognosis is six months or less
- Give up life-saving treatment
A Resident’s Lifespan Can Increase During Hospice Care
Hospice care doesn’t mean the resident has given up or stopped fighting. It provides real support, including medical support to increase the quality of life. This support reduces the stress on a resident, directly improving quality of life and sometimes even increasing lifespan. Therefore, they can be present with their loved ones for longer because of the dignity and support in hospice care.
Residents Receive Adapted Support
A resident who doesn’t need highly invasive medical treatments can benefit significantly from hospice support. The caregivers at Cedar Creek Homes will continue to offer assistance activities of daily living, increasing scope as the resident’s care needs increase. When end-of-life care becomes necessary, our experienced and certified caregivers step in to handle this aspect. The patient continues receiving all the same support they had before their terminal diagnosis.
Hospice Caregivers Can Coordinate Care Plans
A resident with memory care and related ailments needs more support and continuity as their disease advances. The hospice team plays a critical role in helping assisted living caregivers coordinate all their care efforts. They can offer skilled support to families to help them understand their loved one’s unique needs at the end of their lives. This approach provides the least disruption to the resident’s life on all fronts, improving their last days.
End-of-Life Care at Cedar Creek
Supports Aging in Place
Familiarity and stability are two critical qualities that residents of Cedar Creek Memory Care Homes need throughout their lives. Uprooting a memory care resident to another setting can destabilize them physically and emotionally, causing their health to decline. This, in turn, may reduce their quality of life.
At Cedar Creek, our staff members have worked with memory care residents for over 25 years. Currently, one of our managers has received certification in end-of-life care, and more are still in training. You can trust that your loved one will receive the best level of care in their final months, weeks and days.
Request a Brochure
If your family member needs assisted living services or memory care near Washington DC, Cedar Creek Memory Care Homes can give your loved one the unique support they need throughout their lives, including their last months and weeks.
We hope families find comfort in knowing that their loved ones will be cared for by the people who know them in their final weeks and days. Contact us to schedule a site visit and learn more about our end-of-life care program for your loved one with a terminal diagnosis. Our staff members have received special training in dementia care, including end-of-life support.
Auxiliary House Memory Care Home
5501 Southwick St, Bethesda, MD 20817
(301) 384-4017
