End of life care
Planning care until the very end
Talking about and planning for end-of-life care can be difficult for all involved, but our compassionate staff at Smithy Bridge Court can help with these essential arrangements in a straightforward and clear manner.
Our care professionals find that understanding an individual’s wishes, values and beliefs is a helpful way of sparking communication around this sensitive subject.
A gentle approach
Our experienced care team possess the empathy, compassion and understanding to take care of our ladies and gentlemen and maintain their dignity as they approach the end of their life.
These attributes, along with specialist palliative care training, allow staff to support families and the individuals we care for by offering advice and helping to make arrangements.
Commitment to providing quality of life
Regardless of how much time you or your loved one has left, at Smithy Bridge Court we endeavour to provide an excellent quality of life.
Towards the end of a person’s life, there are four specific needs that we prepare for:
- Physical – managing symptoms and relieving pain
- Psychological – listening to and acting on anxieties that the individual and or their family may be experiencing
- Practical – providing support on practical matters, including getting financial affairs in order
- Spiritual – making contact with religious leaders to meet spiritual needs
Open discussions
End of life care plans can be organised over time and our team may discuss with you:
- Who will look after your loved one as they approach the end of their life
- How to arrange the individual’s room, for example moving bed position so it meets their wishes to view the outside
- Which friends and family will visit to say goodbye and when
- Other stimuli in the room e.g. sound. Some people wish to have silence while others may ask for music or the television to be on
- Palliative care
- Anything the person we care for does not want during this time
- Funeral arrangements
Dementia and end of life
If your loved one lives with dementia, we advise that you discuss end of life care with them as early as possible, so they can communicate their wishes more easily.
Those in the late stages of dementia might find speaking difficult and struggle to understand, however communication via non-verbal methods such as body language and facial expressions may be possible. Our team will be available to help with such arrangements in any way they can.