CHF-COPD
About Home Care for CHF and COPD| You are reading: CHF-COPD About Home Care for CHF and COPD |
There's no place like home, especially when you are sick. Most people with serious illness want to stay at home, no matter where that home is. For some, home may be an assisted living facility or other long-term care environment. Family caregivers play an important role in helping patients recognize and treat symptoms to prevent a medical crisis and to avoid unwanted or unnecessary hospitalizations. Providing good home care does not guarantee that your loved one will avoid trips to the emergency room altogether. But it can help reduce the number of those trips, and will enable both of you to feel less anxious or worried about what is going on.
Although the information here is geared toward a family caregiver based at home with the patient, other caregivers will benefit from learning more about what is needed to care for the patient. It is especially important to understand the treatment, and to be aware of your loved one's treatment preferences.
Advanced heart disease and advanced lung disease, like so many chronic illnesses, afflicts one individual, but affects entire families. Family caregivers are essential in helping the person live with these diseases - and families and friends become involved in making practical arrangements to care for the patient on a day-to-day basis. People with advanced CHF or COPD may need help with daily tasks, such as fixing food and getting dressed, and with other chores, such as running errands and housekeeping. At some point, the helpers or caregivers often become involved in providing health care support, such as managing medications and coordinating physician visits.
Although many family caregivers live with the patient, many others do not. Some family caregivers may live at a great distance, but still provide essential care. No matter where you are in your journey as a family caregiver, and no matter the degree of care you provide, this manual can help you and your loved one live more comfortably with advanced congestive heart failure or advanced lung disease.
Many organizations offer resources and information on preventing and treating heart disease and lung disease; such materials usually focus on lifestyle changes, such as improving diet and quitting smoking. But no organization offers guidance specifically for family caregivers with a focus on coping with advanced heart failure or advanced lung disease. This manual offers guidance for family caregivers to help their loved one cope with advanced disease.
Talk to your family member about what he would need to do to have a good day. Begin by reviewing the following information; together, talk to the doctor or nurse about keeping an adequate supply of prescription medications on hand. At a minimum, you and your loved one will need: