how to treat cancer patients at home

Every year almost 2 million new cases of cancer are diagnosed in the US, while 17 million Americans live with cancer daily. Although cancer rates remain high, thanks to advances in cancer treatment, much of oncology care can now be carried out in outpatient clinics and treatment centers, reducing the need for multiple hospital readmissions. These advances in treatment have led to more people with cancer having the option to remain at home instead of facing repeated hospitalizations.

Can Cancer Patients Stay at Home?

With the right support, many cancer patients can stay in the privacy, comfort, and security of their homes while they undergo or recover from cancer treatment. That’s particularly the case when cancer patients have access to in home cancer care. In home cancer care allows you to take care of a cancer patient at home while they receive the highest quality of cancer care available from professional nurses who are trained in oncology caregiving.

How Can I Help a Cancer Patient at Home?

Caring for a cancer patient at home involves making sure they are comfortable, but there are other ways you can care for a cancer patient at home.

You can help a cancer patient feel better by helping their household continue to run smoothly. That includes tasks like:

  • Helping them with house cleaning, shopping and meal preparation
  • Making sure outside tasks like yard care are done
  • Running errands for them

Another way to help a cancer patient at home is by seeking premium cancer care from Kinkaid Private Nursing Care. Our care is provided by Kinkaid’s team of in-home nurses with decades of experience caring for the elderly. Our nurses are trained to provide high-quality care in a kind and professional manner, while also ensuring excellent communication with families.

Kinkaid Private Care helps with:

  • managing symptoms
  • in-home lab work
  • proper nutrition plan
  • healthy exercise regimen
  • prioritizing communication
  • coordination of supporting services
  • coordinating doctor’s appointments
  • proactive care by vigilant oversight

How Do You Make a Cancer Patient Feel Better?

There are many ways to help a cancer patient feel better. Here are some ways to help a cancer patient feel better emotionally:

  • Listening without judging. Often, people who are facing life-changing situations need to talk about it without receiving advice or judgment. Simply listening to them is an important way to make a cancer patient feel better.
  • Avoid being a cheerleader. It’s great to encourage someone, but superficial slogans like “you got this” or “everything will be ok” only make people feel worse.
  • Stay interested in the person. It’s easy to allow a relationship with a person with cancer to become all about the disease, but remain focused on the person, including their likes, dislikes, preferred activities, and their interests.
  • Help their caregiver. If you can help a cancer patient’s caregiver get some basic tasks accomplished, you’ll be giving them more time to spend with their loved one. Helping out on household tasks can give a caregiver some respite while assisting the household in staying on track.

Why Choose Kinkaid?

Kinkaid Private Care provides premium cancer care in the comfort of our patients’ homes. Our highly trained and experienced nurses customize our care plans to fit the specific needs of each patient. We only take on a few clients at a time, so we always provide luxury specialized care to meet the needs of each client.

Overall, we create a concierge medical experience for each of our clients. Our approach starts with building relationships with each of our clients and their families; we get to know you in the comfort and privacy of your home to understand your exact needs. We then create a personal oncology care team for you consisting of at least a clinical nurse specialist, clinical case manager, and care coordinator. Our compassionate teams are clinician-led and available to you 24/7 to provide unparalleled service and attention to detail.

For more information, please call us at 866-337-4596 or fill out our contact form.

References

Cancer facts & figures 2021. American Cancer Society. (n.d.). Retrieved October 18, 2022, from https://www.cancer.org/research/cancer-facts-statistics/all-cancer-facts-figures/cancer-facts-figures-2021.html

Tralongo P, Ferraù F, Borsellino N, Verderame F, Caruso M, Giuffrida D, Butera A, Gebbia V. Cancer patient-centered home care: a new model for health care in oncology. Ther Clin Risk Manag. 2011;7:387-92. doi: 10.2147/TCRM.S22119. Epub 2011 Sep 9. PMID: 21941445; PMCID: PMC3176172.

cancer care at home

Fighting cancer is a process that is scary, time-consuming, and stressful. However, one way to alleviate some of this stress and hardship is to find quality comfort care outside the hospital to assist with recovery. The goal of this care is not to treat or cure the actual disease; that’s the job for the doctors at the hospital. Rather, the goal of this care is to provide comfort in the healing process and to make the life of the cancer patient as pleasant as possible. Examples of aspects of cancer care include, among other things:

  • Managing symptoms with medication and other treatment
  • Coordinating medical services like blood draws and doctor’s appointments
  • Monitoring the health of the patient to ensure you are prepared for anything

Because you will want your loved one to be as comfortable as possible throughout his or her healing process, you need to make sure you find the best cancer care available. While seeking care, try to find a provider that emphasizes the following:

At Home Cancer Care:

Receiving care at home is ideal for any cancer patient because being at home is always more comfortable than staying at a hospital or group facility. While at-home care can be more expensive, it provides the best atmosphere for someone recovering from this terrible disease. If you can afford at-home care, we recommend looking into it.

Proper Exercise and Nutrition:

One of the most important aspects of cancer care is staying active and healthy whenever possible. The best care providers emphasize exercise and nutrition to ensure the patient stays healthy and active. The exercise and nutrition program for each patient should be different because no two recovery cases are the same. So, while looking for a care provider, be sure to find one that can create and manage an exercise and nutrition program that is unique for any given patient.

Proactive Care:

Proactive care means always being prepared for any situation and creating a care program with this in mind. The best cancer care providers offer a plan that is flexible and can adapt to any circumstance. This is crucial for cancer treatment, as the recovery process for this disease can change at any given moment depending on the patient.

Medication Management:

Administering the right amount of medication at the right time is crucial for any recovery process. Be sure to find a provider that emphasizes this as part of its treatment and has trained staff for this task.

Get The Home Care You Need with Kinkaid:

If you or your loved one is in need of cancer care, please reach out to us to see how we can help. Kinkaid Private Nursing Care offers premium in-home services to patients looking for the best and most intensive care on the market. We only take on a few clients at a time, so we always provide specialized care to meet the needs of each client.

For more information, please visit our homepage and learn about the array of services we provide. These services include at-home cancer care, in-home nursing care, and the coordination of a variety of at-home medical services in the Los Angeles area, as well as home detox services all over the state of California. We also offer at-home Covid-19 testing.