Ramesh was 83 and battling advanced dementia. The CanSupport team got Ramesh’s referral from Dharamshila Rahat Medical Centre. His principal caregiver was his only son who was overprotective of his father and did everything in his power to cure him, even though it landed him in a financial crisis. However, his love for his father was so strong that he was ready to face any challenge.

After his father was discharged from the hospital, the son was in a dilemma about how to take care of his father at home. He would have liked to keep him in the hospital for as long as possible.

Ramesh was in a semi-conscious state with co-morbidities when the team first visited him at his home. The team members could not converse with Ramesh during their first visit, and it was his son who did all the talking. He shared everything about his father’s condition and the difficulties the family was facing in looking after him.

While the team doctor guided the family on the right medication to treat the physical symptoms, the team nurse addressed all the nursing issues. The team promised the son that they would be accessible to the family 24x7 for any assistance or counsel and that he needn't stress over caring for his father at home. The family felt greatly supported.

Every time the team visited Ramesh’s house; the son would ask what else he could do to help his father. The team appreciated the son’s concerns but also made him aware of the suffering his father would go through if put through futile interventions in the hospital. The team counsellor helped Ramesh’s son to let go of his attachment to his father, especially knowing the prognosis. After the initial visits and intensive counselling, the son was able to understand and felt at peace after he let go.

The counsellor encouraged the son to do whatever he could, like fulfil his father’s wish of seeing his mother who lived in the village by connecting them on a video call, or sit with him, hold his hand, and try to fulfil any other desire that his father may express.

Ramesh’s son followed the advice of the counsellor and did everything he could to make his father comfortable. After a month, Ramesh passed away peacefully surrounded by his family. The son was very grateful to the CanSupport team for guiding him and giving him psychosocial support that helped him let go of his attachment to his father, which was causing him grief, thereby reducing his father’s suffering.