The primary reason for which most of the people hire the services of a professional home care agency for their aging parents is that they follow an integrated approach to provide the best and all-round care. Whether it is for wound care or general care, an integrated and a holistic approach to care ensures the best palliative wound care. This type of care is based on the principles and evidences that are similar to traditional wound care.
Therefore, in order to ensure a better and faster healing of your loved ones at home you should focus on the goals of stabilization and palliation of the existing wounds rather than a general goal of wound healing. This will ensure that:
- Possibilities of new wounds are prevented
- A better symptom management in provided and
- An improved patient comfort is provided.
This will ensure a better and faster healing and an improved well-being overall. It will also enhance the quality of life of the patient which is why an integrated care approach should be followed.
This being difficult and requires content focus and attention to the patient may be difficult for you to provide by you which is why you will need a professional home care giving service to hire. Only rely on reputable agencies such as Myallamericancare or any other of the same caliber so that you and your loved one get a care just as desired and appropriate.
Therefore, make sure that you give some time for the research of such agencies and not rush into a final conclusion without weighing the pros and cons of each.
Goal of wound management
Ideally, the goal of wound management is to provide proper interventions that will efficiently progress the wounds through the different biologic sequence of repair, healing and regeneration. For this the care giver will ensure that:
- A clean and protected wound bed is provided
- The devitalized tissues are removed on a regular basis and also
- Reduce a number of factors that may result in a distress and poor quality of life in the patients.
It is seen through different tests that the presence of necrotic tissue in the wound usually stimulates inflammation. Its is also found that necrotic tissues facilitate the growth of pathogens and pathological organisms in the wound as well.
In addition to that, other studies have also demonstrated that:
- Necrosis and death of the tissues results in further breakdown of the tissues
- This causes the wound to exudate excessively and as a consequence results in increased bacterial burden
- It also causes bad odor in the wound and maceration in the surrounding tissue and
- It decreases the protein stores in the patient who is already vulnerable due to age.
All these calls for a proper care of the patient at home, preferably through a professional care giver hired from a reputable care giving agency.
Effects of wounds and soars
When a patient suffers from wounds and soars that emits bad odor, believe it or not, it may lead to physical as well as social isolation. In addition to that, it may also alter the sell-worth and body image of the patient. All these will pose a significant challenge to the caregivers though they are adequately trained to overcome such hurdles by using proper medications.
- One such is the topical use of metronidazole that has the potential to exterminate the anaerobes that primarily causes the bad odor.
- Another useful method followed by the professional caregiver is charcoal dressings. This is a specific dressing that is applied over the primary dressing. This type of treatment can be expensive but is effective and can be reused as long as it remains dry.
- Applying baking soda is another useful way to treat odor emitting wounds. It should be applied between the dressing layers. The baking soda will help in absorbing the odor.
There are also a few other treatment processes that can be followed to hide odor and depends on how knowledgeable the caregiver is regarding these methods. A few of these methods include discreet placement of:
- A pan of charcoal
- Cider vinegar
- Cat litter
- Scented candles
- Air freshener sprays
- Peppermint
- Other essential oils
- Coffee beans or grounds.
The type of medication to be used and process to be followed to hide odor of the wound will however depend on the condition of the wound. It is therefore required to conduct a system review and a physical assessment. Inspection of the skin to identify the existence of any pressure ulcers is also required especially if the patient is left lying for a prolonged period.
All these facts and information on comorbidities of the patient will ensure that the patient is placed out of the risk of development of any wound or impaired healing.
The final thoughts
For the end-of-life patients, the condition is really vulnerable even if proper preventative measures are in place. This is because immobility, poor nutrition, incontinence and loss of cognitive function may lead to unavoidable situations that may give rise to wounds to the surface as well as well below the epidermal layer. Add to that, if the patient is suffering from severe illness, it is more important to provide comfort to the patient rather than focusing on the preventative measures.
It is therefore necessary to educate the family members of the patients about the possibilities of skin breakdown and as a result the development of wounds. It may not heal at all which is when you will need to make an informed and more realistic decisions about providing proper and adequate care.
It is only a comprehensive assessment of the situation and following a more holistic approach with an individualized plan of care will ensure that the patient is treated well and appropriately. It is then the patient and family will be able to achieve their goals. If the healing is not realistic then the goals of care become less stable with reduced comfort and inadequate system management.
Since there are no absolute wound protocols and only guidelines, home care clinicians can only follow the NPUAP recommendations to treat them.