These statistics and others show that, in this country, we have about a one in five chance of having our households affected by caregiving responsibilities, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The majority of us will be providing care for family, close friends or neighbors, and most of those will be women (about 66 percent of caregivers are women, according to the National Alliance for Caregiving, or NAC).
One of the most difficult tasks that caregivers will face is having to witness, up close and personal, the final stages in the life of a loved one, whether that loved one is a mother, father, sibling or close relative. As a caregiver, it is important to recognize the characteristic signs that the end of life is near - to prepare both mentally and physically for the passing of a loved one. Among those signs:
Loss of Appetite
As the body and body systems wind down, the nutritional intake we once needed to provide us with energy declines as well. In the last stages of life, a person may start refusing certain foods - such as meat and other hard-to-digest foods. He or she may rely solely on small amounts of bland foods and drink small amounts of liquids. This loss of appetite or change in appetite is a normal part of the dying process. Depending on the cause, in the final stages of life, the person may not be able to swallow, and may refuse food and drink altogether.
While this change may be distressing to you, you should not attempt to force feed or force liquids on the person. You should encourage periodic intake of ice chips or small sips of water to maintain hydration, and use lip balm, compresses and/or ice chips to keep the lips moist. Keep in mind that, in the final stages of death, forcing food can cause pain for a person whose systems are shutting down, and forcing liquids can cause fluids to be aspirated into the lungs, worsening health.