Palliative care in London area

Families of seniors in need of palliative care in London and area should consider the benefits offered by retirement residences. When you consult with the London Local Health Integration Network, they will offer you a variety of hospice care options, ranging from home care services to hospitalization, in one of several exceptional local health care facilities. However, the demand for, and potential wait times for these care services may impede you from getting the care you want.

London area retirement residences, like those listed below, present a worthwhile alternative that all families should consider.  Consider the following residences with hospice and palliative care beds available.

Retirement homes offering palliative care

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Why a retirement home for palliative care?

Getting palliative care at home or in a hospital setting is accepted practice, the typical way most families choose to deal with this delicate time. However, there are many advantages to getting this type of care in a retirement home.

Consider the following benefits:

• Retirement homes are less busy than many hospitals and other clinical settings
• There is likely to be less of a wait time (if any)
• Homes are staffed with professional care workers (ranging from medical doctors to PSWs) trained in seniors' care
• Care may include extra health services such as assistance with feeding, dressing, bathing, incontinence and more
• Ailing seniors will be in community with others their own age and will be able to share their experiences with others

Palliative care in a retirement home makes more sense than many other options; it's a perfect compromise between home and clinical settings.

Read reviews of London retirement residences before you commit to any type of senior care here. 

Planning palliation for dementia sufferers

Sadly, diagnoses of Alzheimer's Disease and some other dementias are terminal. To make the best of it, families should consider availing themselves of one of the many superb retirement residences in London that offer both memory care and hospice care.

Ultimately, it's most considerate to find one solution for declining seniors, where they can stay for the duration of their disease. Patients with early to moderate dementia can familiarize themselves with their environment, and with the care workers around them (including personal service workers, nurses and others they see daily). For their part, care workers can work with and grow to know your aging relative. This suitably holistic way of planning out dementia care (and eventually, inevitably, hospice care) is one small way families can help make the best of a lamentable situation.

No matter the circumstances, palliative care in a retirement residence offers many advantages. Care workers Comfort Life has heard from offer anecdotes that illustrate the unique value of this environment: "It's a warmer environment here [than you will find in a hospital or hospice care ward in long term care homes]," says Sharron, care worker at one residence. "They know that their life is coming to an end. But they feel comfortable here. It's a home [not a clinic]." 

Further resources

You can learn about all your options from the London Local Health Integration Network: healthcareathome.ca/southwest/en.

• Palliative care
• Alzheimer's and palliative care
• Hamilton palliative care homes
• Kitchener-Waterloo palliative care

• Long-term Care: Continuous Care for Your Loved Ones
• Long-term Care Homes in Ontario
• Long-term Care Homes BC
• OLTCA: The Ontario Long Term Care Association

• The Ultimate Retirement Tour Checklist
• Guide to a Healthy Heart
• Brain Health Guidebook by Qualicare