When Should Someone Be Offered Palliative Care?
Blues Perspectives
| 3 min read
Palliative medicine is the specialty that works to make patients comfortable, manage symptoms and side effects and help them cope with their illness. It works with the patient’s physician and can be a godsend for patients and their families and help with things such as pain, shortness of breath, weakness, frailty, wounds, mobility and many more.
Palliative care can begin at the start of an illness and continue while the patient is being treated. It has no time restriction, can go on for many years and does not require a life-threatening illness.
Hospice is a smaller part of palliative care for patients with severe illnesses who have an expected life expectancy of six months or less. Usually, these are cases where curative care is not possible and the goal is to make the patient comfortable in the time that remains.
Putting this into perspective, the World Health Organization notes that more than 57 million people worldwide receive palliative care, and only 25 million of these are expected to be in their last year of life.
What are the goals of palliative care?
Anyone with a serious illness may be a candidate for palliative care. It is not limited only to terminal illnesses. The goal is to improve a patient’s symptoms, quality of life and overall comfort through a team with physicians, nurses, nutritionists, physical and occupational therapists, social workers and spiritual leaders.
The care varies based on the needs of the individual patient and is not one-size-fits all. Palliative care can coordinate the care, which makes things easier for the patient, helps caregivers and loved ones and can improve treatment.
Who needs palliative care?
Palliative care can be used for many conditions including
- Cancer
- Heart failure
- Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD)
- Dementia
- Severe wounds
- Stroke
- Diabetes
- Kidney failure
- Genetic diseases
- HIV
Palliative care may be offered at the time of diagnosis, when symptoms or effects of the illness worsen or when the disease causes serious discomfort and disability. The care varies based on the needs of the patient. A doctor may suggest palliative care, or a patient or their family member may ask for a referral.
What is hospice care?
Hospice care focuses on comfort and quality of life leading up to death from a terminal illness. It is offered to patients and their families to help make this difficult period more comfortable. Hospice care includes respite care, which allows caregivers and loved ones to take time away from their caregiving duties, and bereavement care, which offers family members support after the death of their loved one. It can also offer spiritual support based upon the wishes of the patient and the family.
When should someone be offered hospice care?
Hospice care is available once a patient is expected to live 6 months or less as certified by the treating physician and the hospice physician. It is usually started once treatments are no longer effective or once the patient and family agree that comfort and relief are the most important goals. Hospice care may be offered in the home, a hospital or in an extended care facility. Hospice care is not limited to six months because there are some patients that may live longer than others. It is also not a binding contract since the patient has the right to go off hospice if they choose.
