It’s good to feel at peace with palliative care

When someone is living with a life-limiting illness, being able to remain at home can bring comfort at a time when so much else may feel uncertain.

Bluebird Care provides palliative and end of life care across Highgate, Haringey and surrounding neighbourhoods, including Tottenham, Crouch End and Bounds Green. Our care experts provide sensitive, personalised support centred on comfort, dignity and the wishes of the person receiving care.

Whether support is needed for a few days, several months or longer, care can be shaped around what matters most to the customer and their family.

What is palliative care?

Palliative care supports people who are living with a terminal or life-limiting illness that cannot be cured.

Rather than focusing on treating the underlying condition, the aim is to help the person feel as comfortable as possible and maintain the best quality of life available to them.

Palliative care is not necessarily limited to the final days or weeks of someone’s life. Some people may receive this type of support for a much longer period.

It can involve practical help at home alongside the treatment and symptom management provided by qualified healthcare professionals.

What is end of life care?

End of life care is a form of palliative care for people approaching the final stage of their life.

Support is centred on comfort, dignity and the choices the person wants to make about how and where they spend their time.

For many people, that means remaining at home surrounded by familiar belongings and the people they love.

End of life care may last for a few days, several months or sometimes longer, depending on the individual circumstances.

The amount of support provided can change as the customer’s needs develop.

Why care at home can matter

Home can offer familiarity during a period of considerable change.

The customer can stay in their own room, follow personal routines and spend time with friends and relatives without the additional disruption of moving into an unfamiliar environment.

It can also make everyday preferences easier to preserve.

That might include favourite meals, faith or cultural practices, how someone likes their room arranged or simply who they want around them.

For family members, having professional care in place can also create more opportunity to spend meaningful time together rather than focusing entirely on practical caring responsibilities.

What can palliative and end of life care include?

The exact support provided will depend on the customer’s needs, preferences and agreed care plan.

This may include:

• Personal care: Gentle, respectful support with washing, dressing, toileting and other personal routines.
• Companionship: A reassuring presence, conversation and emotional support when wanted.
• Mobility: Help moving around the home and becoming comfortable where assistance is required.
• Meals: Preparing food and drinks around the customer’s tastes, appetite and any professional guidance they have received.
• Medication support: Assistance maintaining agreed medication and prescription routines.
• Household help: Taking care of shopping, cleaning, laundry and other everyday jobs.
• Family support: Practical assistance that allows relatives to spend more time simply being with their loved one.
• Everyday comfort: Responding sensitively to the customer’s preferences and helping make their surroundings as comfortable as possible.

Clinical decisions and symptom management remain the responsibility of the healthcare professionals involved in the customer’s care.

Respecting personal wishes

Everyone approaches the end of life differently.

Some people want plenty of family around them, while others prefer more privacy and quiet. Faith, culture and personal beliefs may also shape what feels important.

Bluebird Care Highgate & Haringey creates care plans around the individual, including how they want to spend their time, who they want involved and how their personal beliefs should be respected.

Where the customer wishes, relatives can also be involved in those discussions.

The aim is to make sure care reflects the person receiving it rather than following a standard approach.

Making time together feel like family time

When someone becomes seriously ill, relatives often take on practical responsibilities without hesitation.

Over time, however, meals, medication, personal care and household jobs can begin to dominate the time everyone spends together.

Professional support can take on some of those everyday tasks.

A care expert might prepare food, help with personal care or take care of shopping while relatives spend time talking, sharing memories or simply sitting with their loved one.

That can help family time feel more like family time again.

Compassionate support through changing needs

Care needs can sometimes change quickly during a life-limiting illness.

Someone who initially needs light practical support may later require more assistance with personal care, mobility or other parts of the day.

Our Highgate & Haringey team can review the care arrangement as circumstances develop.

Support can therefore increase or change without losing sight of the customer’s original wishes and preferences.

Having familiar care experts involved can also bring continuity during a period when several healthcare professionals and family members may be part of the wider support network.

Working alongside healthcare professionals

Palliative and end of life care often involves several different professionals.

The customer may already be supported by their GP, community nurses, hospice services or another clinical team.

Our care experts provide the agreed personal and practical support at home while clinical treatment and decisions remain with qualified healthcare professionals.

Where appropriate and with the customer’s agreement, care can work alongside this wider support so that everyone understands the customer’s needs and priorities.

Getting started with palliative and end of life care in Highgate & Haringey

If someone you love is living with a terminal or life-limiting illness, our Highgate & Haringey team can help you explore the support available at home.

We will take the time to understand what matters to the customer, how they would like to be supported and where practical help could make this period more comfortable for them and their family.

Bluebird Care provides palliative and end of life care throughout Highgate and Haringey, including Tottenham, Crouch End and Bounds Green.

Call Bluebird Care Highgate & Haringey on 0208 154 5578 for a sensitive, no-obligation conversation about palliative and end of life care at home.