End of Life Care
What is End of Life Care?
End-of-life care is designed for those who are likely to die within a year and is based on te principles of palliative care. Its primary goal is to give them the best possible quality of life, right to the end, fostering a dignified and respectful transition.
What does our end of life care involve?
At Sunninghill Recovery Lodge, our skilled team has experience in end-of-life care, including:
- Assisting the family and the individual who has decided to no longer have treatment for the disease, and has chosen quality time over quantity time.
- The patient has reached a stage in life where illness or medical circumstances have determined that the patient will die.
- The patient might be experiencing extreme symptoms that need to be managed by a carer.
- Many patients are not mobile and need 24-hour pressure care to prevent pressure sores.
- Providing care for a palliative patient at home can be emotionally exhausting and compromises the dignity of both the patient and their loved ones who care for them.
- Usually, families need as much support as the patients and are unable to cope with the anticipatory grief they face.
- Pain management plays a big role in this kind of care, and the patient will need someone to assist with administering the correct medicine and controlling pain.
- When dying from a terminal disease like COPD, there are often episodes of extreme breathlessness that cannot be controlled without a team of experienced carers.
- A palliative journey needs the input of a variety of therapists like social workers, for the entire family. we work alongside a host of aligned therapists.
- Hospice care is often clinical and impersonal, and the facilities are usually not modern, or designed for the patient’s dignity and comfort.
Why would you require end of life care?
- Our team also has experience assisting patients during:
- Cancer (various types)
- Heart failure
- Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD)
- Liver failure
- Renal failure
- Stroke with significant complications
- ALS (Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis)
- HIV/AIDS in advanced stages
- Parkinson’s disease in advanced stages
- Multiple sclerosis in advanced stages
- Huntington’s disease
- Amyloidosis
- Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis
- Motor neuron diseases
- Progressive supranuclear palsy (PSP)
- Muscular dystrophy
- Myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS)
- Neurodegenerative disorders
- Cardiomyopathy
- Systemic sclerosis (Scleroderma)
- Brain tumors
- Glioblastoma multiforme
- Sarcomas
- Severe malnutrition in the context of a terminal illness
Our approach
At Sunninghill Recovery Lodge, our team ensures that you are met with exceptional care, enabling you to remain comfortable during your stay.
Our objective is to get to know you so that we can ensure we understand your unique needs and wishes. Our team will help get you settled into your room and take time to learn about your requirements to ensure that you are able to remain in control and feel at ease during your stay.
We assist with the medical aspects of end-of-life care, but we also assist with the emotional realities. Families need additional support during this complex time and seldom understand the intricacies of navigating the end stage of life. The knowledge that your loved one is dying is nuanced with sorrow, stress, anxiety and feelings of being overwhelmed, and you will need a safe space to process this anticipatory grief.
Once you are settled in, our experienced team will ensure your vitals are taken, treatments are scheduled, and ablution requirements are met. Most importantly, we will ensure you are treated with kindness, dignity, and compassion. Our team does our utmost to ensure that your emotional and psychological needs are also met.
When it comes to nutrition, we meet you where you are. Often during this stage of life, nutrition is not the top priority and we therefore concentrate more on beautiful tastes and textures to give you enjoyment in your last days. We ensure fluids are consumed for comfort and will never force you to drink when swallowing becomes difficult. Every guest always has a call button on hand to ensure that we can attend to your needs 24/7. Our main goal is to eliminate anxiousness, ensuring you never feel alone or vulnerable.
Our team’s common goal is to ensure our guests feel safe, loved and in control. We have no restrictive visiting hours or schedules, so you have the freedom to decide what you need and when you would like friends and family to visit.
Palliative and end-of-life care are focused on symptom management and allowing for a beautiful death. We adapt to the family and the way they want to handle it, including people staying over and pets visiting.
Our approach makes use of three simple steps:
1. Create a non-clinical, beautiful, and safe environment that feels like home, but is staffed with carers attending to your needs 24/7 while taking meticulous records and controlling pain.
2. To combine outdoor views, delicious, nutrient-dense meals, and private en-suite rooms to enhance the experience of a beautiful death for both the patient and their family.
3. To give control back to the guest by empowering them to make their own decisions, while we communicate often and thoroughly with loved ones.