When you or a loved one are facing a serious illness, the comfort of home can be exactly what’s needed. Palliative care at home allows you to stay in familiar surroundings while receiving specialized care to manage symptoms and improve quality of life.
We’re talking about a holistic approach here—supporting not just physical health but also emotional and spiritual well-being.
Whether you’re navigating complex medical treatments or simply looking for relief from pain, palliative care brings the care team to you, offering comfort and support in the place you feel safest.
A Palliative Care Team Takes You Through a Serious Illness
When you’re facing a serious illness, it can feel overwhelming to navigate the challenges that come with it. That’s where a palliative care team steps in, guiding you through every step to ensure your symptoms are managed and your quality of life is improved.
This is not just about medical care—it’s about addressing the emotional, physical, and spiritual needs you might have during such a difficult time.
How Palliative Care Teams Work with You
Your palliative care team is made up of specialized professionals, including doctors, nurses, social workers, and spiritual advisors. They work closely with you to address your symptoms, provide relief from pain, and offer the support you need.
This team adapts your care based on your personal goals and treatment options, making sure that you’re receiving the best care possible, whether you’re at home, in a hospital, or an outpatient clinic.
Regular visits from your care team help monitor your condition and adjust your treatment plan as needed.
Relieving Symptoms and Managing Pain
One of the core functions of palliative care is to focus on relieving symptoms and managing pain. If you’re living with a serious medical condition like cancer, lung disease, or another life-limiting illness, you likely experience ongoing discomfort.
Palliative care services aim to ease that pain with skilled nursing and symptom management, helping you achieve a higher quality of life even while managing your condition.
Supporting Emotional and Spiritual Well-Being
Palliative care extends beyond physical symptoms. It also supports your emotional and spiritual well-being during this challenging time. Social workers can connect you with community resources, while spiritual advisors offer guidance and peace of mind.
When dealing with a serious illness, it’s normal to experience emotional strain, and having a palliative care team to provide spiritual care and emotional support helps you find balance.
In-Home Palliative Care Services
If you prefer the comfort of your home, palliative care services can be delivered right to your doorstep. In-home palliative care allows you to receive the same quality of care without needing to make frequent trips to the hospital.
Skilled nurses, social workers, and other specialists will visit you regularly to provide treatment, manage symptoms, and offer emotional and spiritual support in the familiar setting of your home.
Improving Quality of Life and Supporting You Every Step of the Way
The goal of palliative care is to improve your quality of life, even if it doesn’t necessarily extend life expectancy. By focusing on symptom relief, emotional well-being, and spiritual care, your palliative care team helps you live as comfortably as possible.
Derived from the Latin word “palliare,” meaning “to cloak,” palliative care serves as a protective cloak of support, helping you face each day with comfort and dignity.
Your Palliative Care Team: A Source of Support
As you navigate life with a serious illness, your palliative care team is there to provide ongoing support. They work with you to manage your medical treatments, relieve your symptoms, and ensure that you are emotionally and spiritually cared for.
Whether you’re receiving care in a hospital, a nursing home, or at home, you can count on your palliative care team to be there when you need them most.
When Does Hospice Care Step In? Does Hospice Provide Palliative Care?
Hospice care becomes an essential part of your journey when a serious illness reaches its advanced stages, and curative treatment is no longer the primary focus. Hospice and palliative care share similar goals: providing comfort, symptom relief, and improving the quality of life.
However, understanding when hospice care steps in and how it differs from palliative care can help you make informed decisions about your health care.
Let’s work together to give your family the gift of peace of mind. Help your loved ones cope after end-of-life by making a preplan. Start the conversation with Renaissance Funeral Home and Crematory by getting in touch or filling out our Basic Planning Form online. With our help, you can know that you’re making a lasting impact on those who love you.
Hospice Care Focuses on End-of-Life Comfort
When your doctor believes your life expectancy is six months or less due to a terminal illness, hospice care often becomes the recommended form of care. This type of care focuses solely on comfort rather than trying to cure the illness.
At this stage, palliative care transitions into hospice care. The goal is to relieve symptoms and provide support to both you and your family during this emotionally challenging time. Hospice care is typically provided in the comfort of your home, allowing you to be surrounded by familiar faces and places while receiving specialized medical care.
How Hospice and Palliative Care Work Together
While palliative care can be provided at any stage of a serious illness, hospice care is specifically designed for end-of-life situations. The palliative care team often continues to be involved when hospice care begins, ensuring the same level of symptom relief, pain management, and emotional support.
Nurse practitioners, doctors, and others work together to coordinate your care, focusing on improving your comfort and quality of life as you approach the end of life.
Hospice programs include in-home palliative care services that help treat symptoms and provide pain management, making it easier for you to remain comfortable during your final months.
Advance Palliative Care: A Bridge to Hospice
When you’re still receiving curative treatment for a serious medical condition, palliative care helps manage your symptoms and improves your quality of life. If your illness progresses and a cure is no longer possible, advance palliative care bridges the transition to hospice care.
The care team will discuss your treatment options with you and your family members, ensuring that your wishes, as outlined in your advance directive, are followed. At this point, the focus shifts from trying to prolong life expectancy to providing you with comfort and dignity in your remaining time.
Supporting You and Your Family During End of Life Care
Hospice care isn’t just for patients. It’s designed to support family members during this challenging time. Hospice care teams include social workers who can help connect your family with the resources they need, such as grief counseling or spiritual care.
Your care team will make sure everyone understands the medical treatments being provided and how to best support you through the process. By focusing on symptom relief, pain management, and emotional support, hospice care ensures that you and your loved ones are cared for every step of the way.
Hospice Care at Home or in a Facility
Most people receive hospice care at home, but you may also receive it in a hospice facility, nursing home, or hospital, depending on your needs. Whether you’re at home or in a healthcare facility, the hospice program works to make sure you’re comfortable.
Hospice care provides you with the opportunity to spend your final days in peace, surrounded by your loved ones, and free from the discomforts of a life-limiting condition.
Providing Comfort and Compassion When You Need It Most
Hospice care steps in when a serious illness has reached its final stages, offering the comfort and compassion you need. It allows you to receive palliative care in its most focused form, helping you find relief from pain and symptoms while ensuring that your emotional and spiritual well-being are supported.
Your care team is there to guide you through the end of life with dignity, making sure you and your family members feel prepared and supported during this important time.
Create Your Funeral Care Plan: Help Your Loved Ones After You’re Gone
At Renaissance Funeral Home and Crematory, we understand that planning ahead can feel overwhelming, but it’s one of the most thoughtful gifts you can give to your loved ones. By creating a funeral care plan in advance, you not only ease the burden of decision-making during a difficult time but also ensure that your wishes are followed exactly as you intend.
Let’s walk through what you can expect when you start your planning process and how we’re here to help.
Why Pre-Planning Matters
Planning your funeral ahead of time allows you to make critical decisions about how you want to be remembered. It gives your family the peace of knowing they’re honoring your wishes, and it spares them from having to make difficult choices while grieving.
A comprehensive funeral care plan covers everything from whether you prefer cremation or burial to the type of service you want to be held. You can even include personal touches, such as the music to be played or readings to be shared.
With these details in place, your loved ones can focus on celebrating your life rather than making last-minute decisions.
How to Begin Your Funeral Care Plan
Starting your plan is easier than you might think. At Renaissance Funeral Home and Crematory, we offer a Basic Planning Form where you can begin outlining your preferences. You’ll be asked for essential details such as your full legal name, date of birth, and address.
From there, you can make decisions about the type of service you want—whether that’s a viewing, wake, funeral, or memorial. You can also specify where you want the service to be held, whether at our chapel or another location of your choice.
This form helps ensure all necessary information is gathered so that everything is handled smoothly when the time comes. You can also visit us in person or talk with us to create your plans.
Preneed Accounts: Protecting Your Funds
When you prepay for your funeral arrangements, you can rest assured that your funds are protected. North Carolina law ensures that all funds for pre-arranged plans are placed in a third-party financial institution, never owned by the funeral home. This means that the money you set aside for your funeral care plan is secure and only accessible when the services are needed.
And if you move to another city or state, your preneed account is fully transferable to another funeral home.
Locking in Today’s Prices for Future Services
One of the significant benefits of preplanning is the ability to lock in current prices for services and merchandise. With an inflation-proof designation, you can ensure that your family won’t be burdened with higher costs in the future.
The price of services and items you select today will be honored at the time of need, even if prices increase. This helps provide financial relief for your loved ones and offers you peace of mind, knowing everything is already taken care of.
Modifications and Flexibility
Life can change, and so can your wishes. That’s why your funeral care plan is fully flexible. You can modify or update your plan at any time, whether it’s changing the location of your service or adjusting the details of the ceremony.
We keep your plan on file and will work with you to ensure that it reflects your most current wishes.
Additionally, signing a preneed contract as revocable or irrevocable gives you control over how your funds are handled, including protection from being counted as assets when applying for Medicaid assistance.
How Pre-Planning Helps Your Loved Ones
One of the greatest gifts you can give your family is the gift of preparedness. By creating a funeral care plan, you eliminate the stress of trying to figure out what you might have wanted. They can focus on grieving, healing, and celebrating your life without worrying about making dozens of decisions.
Pre-planning gives your loved ones clear instructions, reducing uncertainty and emotional strain during an already difficult time. It’s a loving, responsible way to provide for those who matter most.
Start Your Funeral Care Plan Today
Pre-planning your funeral is a step toward making sure your wishes are respected, and your loved ones are supported after you’re gone.
Renaissance Funeral Home and Crematory is here to guide you through every decision and provide the resources you need to create a plan that reflects who you are and how you want to be remembered.
Let’s work together to give your family the gift of peace of mind. Start your plans today by getting in touch or filling out our Basic Planning Form online.
You can also call at 919-866-1866 or visit us to chat with us about your plans. With our help, you can know that you’re making a lasting impact on those who love you.
