Though hospice care focuses on improving its patients’ quality of life, studies show that its benefits extend to their families’ as well.

Hospice care is a form of palliative care that offers a variety of services designed to ease patients with six months or less to live. “It begins after treatment of the disease is stopped and when it is clear that the person is not going to survive the illness,” explains MedlinePlus, a state website.

Hospice care benefits family members too

Conventional hospice care benefits are usually focused on patients’ physical, emotional, and spiritual well-being, and not on their family members’.

However, in a study published in 2021 documenting advanced liver cancer patients and their core family members, experts explain that hospice care also helped the latter in better coping with their negative emotions.

The experts studied 166 patients and randomly divided them into the study group, which received hospice care, and the control group, which underwent routine care.

Between the two groups, they measured and compared the patients’ and family members’:

• Quality of life
• Pain degree
• Subjective well-being
• Anxiety, depression, and other negative emotions
• Satisfaction with the nursing services

Results show and matter

Using the five-dimensional health scale for cancer patients or EQ-5D, experts found that patients in both groups scored significantly higher than before their respective interventions.

However, patients who received hospice care scored higher than those in the control group.

The patients’ levels of happiness were also measured using the Memorial University of Newfoundland Scale of Happiness. Patients in both groups had high scores after intervention, but those in the study group scored higher than those who weren’t.

To measure the levels of the core family members’ negative emotions, the leads in the study employed the Hamilton Anxiety Scale (HAMA) and the Hamilton Depression Scale (HAMD).

After the intervention, they found that the two groups significantly scored lower on both scales, showing a drop in levels of negative emotions. However, those in the study group had even lower scores compared to those whose loved ones did not receive any form of hospice care.

Also, the core family members in the study group were reported to be more satisfied with the hospice care’s nursing services than those in the control group.

The authors of the study concluded that hospice nursing relieves the degree of pain of patients with advanced liver cancer. It also improved the subjective well-being and quality of life of the patients before they passed away.

Additionally, hospice care also benefits not only patients but also helps core family members deal with difficult negative emotions such as anxiety and depression.

Administering proper hospice care

Administering proper hospice care involves a team of qualified professionals with the singular goal of easing the final days of the terminally ill as comfortably, humanely, and caringly possible.

It requires knowledge, experience, and empathy — a crucial combination in providing exceptional care to patients.

At Solano Care Hospice, we cater a wide range of hospice services that aim to give great support and relief to patients with end-of-life needs. Many families across California have trusted Solano Care with their loved ones’ overall well-being for patients’ peace of mind and theirs as well.