Hospice care extends beyond the management of physical symptoms. Living with illness can bring a number of difficult challenges that may affect you, or your family, on an emotional level too.
Support for you
We know that it can help to talk things over, to help make decisions about your care and your future wishes. Often the people we support prefer to talk to someone external to their family and those who are close to them as they do not need to worry about causing upset by what they say.
You may be feeling anxious, confused about what is going on, worried about what will happen and sometimes may just find yourself overwhelmed by it all.
Our team can provide tailored support for you, and your family or carers, to help each reduce anxiety levels and enhance your overall emotional well-being.
We will listen to you and any fears or concerns you have, answer any questions you may have and quite often we can find additional sources of support to help you and your family or carers.
Support for families and carers
Coping with a loved one who is diagnosed with a life limiting illness can at times feel confusing and overwhelming and we know that for some people it is important to be able to speak with someone about their worries and concerns.
We offer families, carers, and friends support at the hospice, as we know that the benefit of this support is vital to their wellbeing and that of our patients. This enables us to look after the whole support network that surrounds our patients.
Our team of highly experienced community nurses, nurse specialists, support workers and counsellors offer one-to-one support and counselling by providing tailored guidance to help you cope with the difficult times, provide a safe and confidential space for you to explore your feelings and thoughts, through a patient’s illness and afterwards.
We can also offer spiritual guidance, regardless of faith.
Whatever way you feel you need to be supported, Ardgowan Hospice will find a way to help you.
Support for children and young people
It’s not just adults we support – we help children and young people too.
Sometimes when we ourselves are facing some difficult challenges, it can be hard to know how best to help children and young people affected by the situation and sometimes subsequent loss. Our first instinct is usually to protect them from the emotional trauma. The range of support we offer children and young people help them to better manage everyday life at home, in school and with friends. This allows them to have a manageable ongoing connection with the person who is ill or has died.
Our Child and Family support worker can:
– offer advice and information for families, professionals and anyone concerned about a child or young person affected by an illness in the family or facing bereavement.
– provide information about what is happening, or is about to happen, and why
– reassure children and young people
– provide a safe place for children and young people to express their feelings and make choices about how they want to be involved – for example attending a funeral
– help children and young people to develop coping strategies when family circumstances change
We cannot prevent people from feeling sad, angry and hurt, but we are here to listen to you to help relieve some of the emotional turmoil you may be experiencing.
If you feel that either you, or a member of your family, a friend or carer would benefit from hospice support, please do get in touch.