Everything You Need to Know About Palliative Care for Serious Illnesses

Palliative care involves the collective effort of medical professionals like nurses, doctors and specialists and the family members of a patient in order to provide maximum comfort to individuals with serious health problems. The goal of this medical technique is to minimise stress and help patients and families accept that dying is a natural process. It also gives a lot of importance to helping families cope with their loved one’s situation.

Patients with cancer, Alzheimer’s diseases, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, ALS, cognitive heart failure and even kidney disease can benefit a lot from palliative care. It helps alleviate the pain, manage depression, increase appetite, relieve nausea and more. It also involves spiritual and emotional healing. The main goal of this type of medical care is to improve the quality of life for the patient and the family.

With palliative care at home, you can make sure that your terminally-ill family member will get all the help and comfort that he or she needs. It will also help you create a more relaxed atmosphere inside your home because you and other members of the household can manage the situation together.

Open Communication

Apart from the help provided by experts, palliative care heavily relies on the teamwork of everyone in the house. You need to maintain an open line of communication between everyone involved. The doctors and nurses are there to listen to both the patient and his or her family.

As much as possible, patients need to be vocal when it comes to how they feel so that they can get the proper medical care and attention. If you’re a patient, it is important to ask questions about the treatment provided and your other options. This will help you set your goals and understand your choices better.

If you are a family member, you should not hesitate to talk about your fears and frustrations. Share how you feel regarding your family member’s condition.

Until the very End

Oftentimes, palliative care is commonly referred to as end of life care. Hence, apart from ensuring that the patient can enjoy the last few moments of his or her life, it also entails helping the family cope with loss or fear of loss. It is an integrative process that helps families accept the situation. You can expect one-on-one general care for the patient until the very end.

Apart from doctors and nurses, you can also expect to find social workers, care givers and spiritual care experts when you undergo palliative care at home. Everyone aims to help the patient enjoy his or her remaining time. It is also important to note that this type of medical care can be possible even when you have limited resources. You can enlist the help of your local health professionals if you don’t have the budget to hire private medical specialists.

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