What to expect when caring for an end-of-life patient at home

Synopsis: Every first and third Wednesday of the month, The Straits Times helps you make sense of health matters that affect you.

The Singapore Government is keen to boost support for palliative care to help more end-of-life patients spend their remaining time at home, if they prefer to do so. For every patient who chooses to die in the comfort of his or her own home, there has to be a caregiver willing to provide the care.

In the previous two episodes, we covered what palliative care is about, how it can help a dying person live well and what it takes to see more end-of-life patients live out their last days at home.

In this episode, ST senior health correspondent Joyce Teo discusses the practical and emotional realities of what to expect when caring for a dying person at home, with Mr Tay Jia Sen, a medical social worker at HCA Hospice, the largest home hospice care provider in Singapore.

Highlights (click/tap above):

1:04 When does hospice care start? Jia Sen describes a typical hospice "home visit" assessment

6:09 Helping patients who are unable to accept death

9:25 How hospice care supports caregivers; mental preparation

14:45 End-of-life symptoms to look out for when you're caring for someone at home

19:28 What happens after the patient dies?

22:27 Advice for caregivers

Listen to Health Check Ep 89: What can be done to help more end-of-life patients fulfil their wish of dying at home?: https://omny.fm/shows/health-check-1/what-can-be-done-to-help-more-end-of-life-patients

Listen to Health Check Ep 88: Preparing for a good death with palliative care: https://omny.fm/shows/health-check-1/let-s-talk-about-palliative-care

Listen to In Your Opinion Ep 9: Let’s talk about death and end-of-life plans: https://omny.fm/shows/in-your-opinion/let-s-talk-about-death

Produced by: Joyce Teo (joyceteo@sph.com.sg), Ernest Luis, Teo Tong
Kai & Eden Soh

Edited by: Eden Soh