What is Palliative Care?
Palliative care is designed to improve the quality of life for patients and families that are dealing with a serious illness. The plan is to treat pain and manage spiritual, physical and psychosocial problems by:
- Providing means to relieve pain and distress
- Reassuring that death is normal and part of life
- Letting end of life take its natural course
- Offering the psychological and spiritual aspects of patient care
- Providing a support system to help patients cope with end of life.
- Providing a support system to help the family cope with the patient’s illness and their own mourning after death.
- Trying to improve the quality of life for the patient and looking for ways to maintain a positive environment.
- If applicable, utilize and manage therapies, such as chemotherapy and radiation, to help prolong life.
How does Palliative Care differ for children?
Palliative care for children is similar to the care for adults, but focuses on special circumstances specific to the illness and their age. The care is administered as follows:
- Total care for the child that covers the areas of body, mind and spirit.
- Provides support to the family during the illness and after death.
- Palliative care begins when an illness is diagnosed and continues, even if the child does not receive any treatment related to the disease.
- The healthcare professionals’ evaluate, manage and aims to improve the child’s social, physical and psychological distress.
- Utilizes a multidisciplinary approach that encompasses support from the family and other resources, such as hospitals that provide certain specialty services, community health centers and the family’s home.
To learn more about Palliative Care, it’s recommended to consult with a healthcare professional. Also, you can reference resources such as the National Institute on Aging at https://www.nia.nih.gov/
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