Hospice Program Garland, TX
Oak Place Homes is proud to offer an alternative to in-home hospice in Garland, TX and surrounding areas. Although most patients will transition in their homes, we recognize that for many families and patients, this isn’t always the best answer. Not only can the experience of a loved one passing in the family home be overwhelming, the actual care can be too complex for the family to manage at home.
Oak Place Homes offers round the clock nursing and aid services in tandem with our hospice partners. Our team is trained to support both the family and the patient in this most difficult time.
For families managing a loved one who is experiencing this transition, we allow 24-hour visitation and provide healthy food and a comfortable, home-like environment so that they can focus completely on their loved one without having to be concerned about anything else.
In addition to those services, our patient families can also benefit from the following services that we offer their hospice patient:
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Since sense of smell is tied to memory and emotions, aromatherapy can evoke good memories and have a positive psychological response with our patients. Sometimes, patients who are agitated and unable to express themselves become calm and restful when aromatherapy oils are used. It can help control pain, stress and anxiety. Often simply smelling a certain fragrance can take a patient back to positive experiences throughout his or her life.
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At Oak Place Homes patients have the opportunity to experience benevolent touch, a form of light touch massage therapy as part of their hospice care. The entire Oak Place Homes staff who interact with patients have been trained in benevolent touch, a type of therapy especially beneficial for patients with dementia or sensory loss due to aging.
Benevolent touch therapy consists of 10 techniques, beginning with massaging shoulders, back, hands, head and/or feet using light squeezes and flat palm circle movements.
Benevolent touch has been shown to:
Reduce feelings of anxiety
Reduce feeling of loneliness and sensory deprivation
Build trust and feelings of safety
Improve relationships by increasing feelings of affection
Reduce agitation and restlessness
Improve circulation, energy levels and the ability to sleep
The theory behind benevolent touch is that even though the mind deteriorates, the body remembers.
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Massage therapy can ease pain, reduce feelings of isolation and calm emotions. For any of our residents enrolled in hospice, massage therapy is usually a lighter touch and a shorter session than traditional massage. The massage takes place wherever the patient is most comfortable and is often performed through the clothing. Massage therapy helps to decrease pain, increase circulation, and relax the patient. Massage therapy also enhances spiritual well-being and helps the patient become grounded in the present moment, while giving them an increased sense of self-acceptance and self-worth.
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Music therapy is more than a music activity. It is the clinical and evidence-based use of music intervention by a board-certified music therapist. Sound affects our physical and emotional well-being and affects heart rate, blood pressure, respirations, and release of the body’s natural painkilling chemicals. It assesses the strengths and needs of the patient and designs a plan of treatment that includes creating, singing, moving to and/or listening to live, patient-preferred music within individual, group and/or family sessions.
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Pet therapy is a guided interaction between an individual and a trained animal. It also involves the animal's handler. The purpose of pet therapy is to help a patient cope with health issues. Pet therapy builds on the pre-existing human-animal bond. With this natural relationship, pet therapy can aid in progress towards a patient's goals of improved physical, social, emotional and cognitive functioning.