Alternative and complementary medical treatments have gained a lot of media time over the last few years. This type of help isn’t always looked nicely upon, but the fact is that these have become very popular because they fulfill a need that traditional medicine is currently not able to fulfill. Research out of Helsinki gives us some reasons why this is happening more frequently today than ever.
Ailments such as recurring headaches, back pain, and other health conditions that do not have an easy solution are the things that are targeted most frequently when alternative care is sought out. These things are notoriously difficult to treat, and it seems only natural that those who have the means to get this help will seek it out. It points to a deep need for individuals to live a higher quality of life, even when pain and disability is a frequent issue within someone’s life. Senior care is an extension of this need. People want to live better lives, even if there are severe issues that prevent them from having full health. As family members, we are in a unique place to help the people that we love get that help.
Researchers looked at more than 40,000 respondents from about 20 different countries and they realized that those who utilize alternative treatment methods tend to do so because they believe that these methods will help them. These include methods like acupuncture, massage, herbal remedies, meditation, and more. Some of these have very little scientific support, while others have been shown to be quite helpful. However, the majority of these individuals that use these methods use them because they don’t believe that any other methods will work. The majority of these individuals are also upper-middle class, meaning that they have some expendable money to use on medical treatments that basic insurance coverage will not pick up.
Some might group treatments like hospice or palliative care into this group. This type of care is supposed to provide care and comfort to those that need it, and more specifically, this care is designed to fill in a gap that modern medical care cannot. End of life care is an imperfect type of care, much like most other medical care methods if you look at them deeply enough. This care can go a long way toward helping improve the quality of your elderly mom or dad’s life, even if their prognosis is not good. Hospice care isn’t geared toward helping to improve health, but to make a rapidly declining health level a little more bearable.
When you are looking for end of life care, it’s important that you go with a company that has the background and the experience necessary to help make your parent’s life more comfortable. That is the point of palliative care, after all. Training, experience, and compassion are major components of high level care. Be sure that if this is something that you are helping a loved one acquire that these factors are taken into account.
Leave a Reply