What Death Is Like In A Care Home

End of life is a difficult subject that isn’t often talked about. However, it’s not unusual for many families to have questions and worries about end of life care.

Here we have included some of the questions that we get asked most often.

Is there a procedure in place for death in the care home?

At Park House Care Home, we work very closely with our residents and their families to define a detailed End of Life Care Plan. This care plan helps us to reflect the resident’s personal wishes and put in place any arrangements and requests for their final days. If, for whatever circumstance, the resident has limited or no capacity, then our team will work closely with the resident’s family to ensure that a suitable End of Life Care Plan is in place.

What does an End of Life Care Plan cover?

Our End of Life Care Plans cover areas such as medical interventions (resuscitation), dietary preferences, spiritual requests and the atmosphere of the room. For example, our residents and their families will request candles to help them to relax or to play a specific type of music to offer comfort. Our staff will adapt to the ambience of the room to reflect these wishes. It is important that we achieve the optimum levels of comfort for the resident and their family at this time.

How will care staff keep in touch with me?

The families of residents with declining health are always kept closely informed by management and senior staff on a daily basis and any change to the resident’s health is reported to them straight away. We also encourage families to come and visit their loved ones often and we welcome families to call the home for frequent updates. If the resident’s health worsens then family are contacted immediately.

Can we stay at the home near the end?

We encourage and support relatives to stay with residents 24/7 in their final few days and try our very best to provide somewhere for them to sleep, whether that be in the resident’s own room or an available room in the building. Our chefs gladly provide fresh home-cooked food to the families and our carers ensure that emotional support and guidance is being provided at all times.

What if we can’t get there in time?

In the event that a resident’s health deteriorates very quickly, we will ensure that a member of staff stays with them at all times to offer support and comfort until the family are present. If that is not possible, please be assured that a member of staff will remain with the resident at all times.

Our staff are excellent at providing high levels of emotional and practical advice leading up to and immediately after death. If you have any questions about end of life care at Park House, then please contact us at any time and we will be happy to support you.