Palliative care adivce services are important for patients, caregivers, and those who are suffering from terminal illnesses or chronic diseases.
Palliative care helps to relieve pain and other symptoms, as well as anxiety in the patient or caregiver. This article explains how palliative care works and who can benefit from it.
What is palliative care and what are its goals?
Palliative care aims to relieve a person’s physical, emotional, social, and spiritual distress. While palliative care cannot take away the symptoms of serious illnesses like cancer or dementia, it can help reduce their negative impact. For instance, it may improve sleep quality or enhance the ability to deal with pain.
The goal of palliative care is not curing an illness but improving the quality of life for those who are suffering from one by making them feel more comfortable.
Often, people who need this type of care have been diagnosed with terminal diseases such as cancer or dementia. Palliative care does not cure these illnesses but instead helps patients manage the symptoms so they can continue living life to its fullest extent possible.
Who can benefit from palliative care services?
Palliative care services are an option for anyone with any type of condition, especially if they have a life-limiting diagnosis.
They offer in-person counselling, phone counselling, caregiver training, workshops, retreats and support groups. Plus, we connect people to specialists around the country for consultations and different treatment options.
They also provide a library of handouts about end-of-life issues like pain management and advance directives.
It’s never too early to start planning how you want to spend the time left to you.
How does palliative care work with other treatments and therapies for serious illnesses?
If a person has a serious illness that isn’t terminal, it may be helpful to work with a team of physicians, nurses, social workers, pharmacists, psychologists and dieticians. This team will provide treatments for symptoms such as pain or nausea.
In addition to providing support to people who are suffering from a serious illness, palliative care can help them talk about their worries and fears openly without feeling like they’re burdening others.
If you have an illness that might be considered serious but not terminal, speak with your physician or healthcare provider to find out more about the type of support they can offer through palliative care.
How can I find out more about palliative care for my loved one or myself?
Are you finding yourself struggling to manage the health care needs of your loved one? Does it seem like their care needs are too complicated for you to manage on your own, or that they are unwilling to do anything to help themselves get better?
Do you find that they are in pain often and need a lot of medical interventions like surgery or chemotherapy, even if these things come with a lot of risk?
These could be signs that your loved one might benefit from palliative care. It has seen many patients who were in this exact situation – whether it’s because they have been battling illness for some time now, or whether they have more recently found out that they are dealing with an incurable condition.