What Is Palliative Care
- Posted by:
- Admin
- Tags:
- Palliative Care, End of Life Care, Diseases, Quality of Life, Terminal Illnesses
- Posted date:
- 13-11-2024
Are you wondering what palliative care is and how it can benefit you or your loved ones? In this article, we explore the essentials of palliative care, its benefits, and how it supports patients with serious illnesses by enhancing their quality of life through comprehensive, compassionate care.
What Is Palliative Care?
Palliative care is a specialised area of healthcare, designed to alleviate suffering and enhance the quality of life for people grappling with severe, frequently life-threatening, diseases.
This form of care is predominantly provided by a diverse team of doctors, nurses, physiotherapists, and a variety of other healthcare specialists. Unlike other forms of care, palliative care can be provided at any point throughout an illness, not just towards the end; it can also coexist with other therapies that focus on curing the disease.
The main objective of palliative care is to help control pain and signs of illness while also addressing the physical, psychological, social, and emotional needs of the patient. The main aim is to provide support that enhances the person’s overall well-being during a challenging period.
Palliative care is tailored to each person's needs and provides a layer of support, ensuring the patient's comfort, as well as providing counselling regarding difficult medical decisions, and helping coordinate care. Whether it's helping manage symptoms, helping with emotional regulation, or addressing questions, palliative care aims to be as inclusive as possible to maximise the patient's quality of life. It's a compassionate approach that puts the patient's needs and well-being at the centre of attention.
What Does Palliative Care Do?
Palliative care plays a critical role in improving the comfort and quality of life for both patients and their loved ones. This form of care focuses primarily on lessening physical pain and psychological distress for individuals facing serious illnesses.
By overseeing pain management, symptom control, and complex disease management, palliative care aims to alleviate distressing symptoms such as difficulty breathing, sleep issues, exhaustion, anxiety and depression. In this form of care, patients' overall well-being is the top priority; the aim is to ensure patients can lead as fulfilling lives as possible, despite dealing with serious health conditions.
Palliative care tackles not only physical health issues but also extends to address emotional and psychological challenges that patients might experience. Besides medical treatments, it also provides emotional care and practical social support, ensuring comprehensive care to meet different needs. Palliative care plays a vital part in handling terminal illnesses by customising support, providing education about the condition, and arranging coordination among various care services.
Moreover, palliative care serves as a strong support system for both patients and caregivers; it provides respite services, allowing the primary carer to rest and not become burnt out. This type of care also extends to the families during bereavement, offering much-needed support to navigate through the tough times, and ensuring they do not face these challenges alone. In short, palliative care is invaluable in facilitating better care management, which seeks to enhance the quality of life for individuals living with serious illness, their families and caregivers.
Does Palliative Care Mean End Of Life Care?
When people hear the term 'palliative care', they often link it with end-of-life care. However, it's crucial to clarify that even though they share several characteristics, the two aren't identical. End-of-life care is a form of palliative care, but it doesn't make up the entirety of it; while end-of-life care focuses on providing comfort and support during the last phases of a life-threatening disease, palliative care possesses a broader definition.
Palliative care can be used at any stage of a serious illness, not just the terminal phase - palliative care can co-exist with treatment plans intended to cure or manage diseases. The purpose of palliative care is to deal with the symptoms and adverse effects of illness from the onset.
Palliative aims to uphold the patient's quality of life for as long as possible and can be adapted according to the severity of the condition; as the disease progresses and patients reach their final stages of life, palliative care remains a critical service.
Palliative care can also be used to help families with the impending death of their loved ones; the care provides support to help both the patients and their families adapt to the inevitable, handle the bereavement process, and come to terms with the loss.
How Do You Receive Palliative Care?
The process of receiving palliative care typically begins with an open conversation where the need for care is identified - this conversation could be initiated by patients themselves, their family members, or even doctors who recognise the need for this type of care.
After the initial discussion, a formal referral can be made to a specialised palliative care team; this can be administered in various settings, including a hospital, a nursing home, or even the comfort of the patient's own home. Palliative care is an inclusive practice that brings together a team of skilled healthcare professionals who collaborate with the patient's existing doctors to provide an additional layer of support.
Once involved, the palliative care team devises a comprehensive care plan that is personalised to the individual patient's needs; their main goal is to ensure the patient's comfort by effectively managing their symptoms and any side effects that arise from their treatment. In sum, receiving palliative care involves a multidisciplinary approach centred on delivering the best possible care for the patient.
What Types Of Diseases Is Palliative Care For?
Palliative care is an essential part of healthcare aimed at alleviating suffering and enhancing the quality of life for people grappling with debilitating illnesses. This type of care isn't reserved for any specific disease or condition; instead, it applies to a broad range of serious diseases that drastically hinder a person's lifestyle.
The scope of diseases that may need palliative care is extensive - it encompasses a range of conditions from heart and lung diseases to cancer as these illnesses frequently cause significant discomfort and anguish; thereby requiring palliative care.
Furthermore, people with progressive neurological diseases like Alzheimer's and Parkinson's can also need palliative care due to the immense burden they place on the patient's everyday life. These disorders often present escalating symptoms that can be emotionally and physically challenging to deal with; therefore, palliative care can provide much-needed relief.
Palliative care also encompasses chronic conditions like kidney disease and diabetes. These are enduring health issues that demand long-term management and often lead to consistent discomfort because of ongoing symptoms; when these illnesses are incurable, or when the symptoms significantly disrupt the patient's lifestyle, palliative care comes into the picture.
In addition to treating symptoms, palliative care also helps in managing the emotional and physical stress of debilitating conditions and comprehensive care plans can form a key part of the treatment strategy. This form of care is also beneficial to elderly individuals and those diagnosed with terminal illnesses, as they often have complex medical and support needs.
Regardless of the circumstances, the main aim of palliative care is to enhance the patient's quality of life through symptom management and support services. It aims to ensure comfort and make the patient's journey with their illness as comfortable as possible.
Our compassionate specialist caregivers provide palliative care in the comfort of your home. Companions Home Care offers personalised assistance and support for your loved ones with diverse care requirements. Get in touch with us today to explore our palliative home care services available in London.