Definition of palliative care
Palliative care can also be defined as an approach that is employed to improve the quality of life for sick people and their families who have been affected by life-threatening diseases. This is done through relieving and prevention of suffering by identifying the symptoms early and also through critical assessment of those signs to treat the pain and other problems such as physical, spiritual, and psychological.
Palliative care, therefore, is very important in that:
- It relieves the patients from pain and reduces stress inflicted by the various disease-causing symptoms.
- It ensures that life is very critical for every human being and everyone has a right to live a decent life. Death is also viewed as a normal process in which everyone has to undergo it.
- Doesn’t intend to increase the lifespan of the patient nor do they want to hasten it.
- Ensure that the patient’s morale is boosted by motivating them spiritually and also psychologically.
- It ensures that the patients remain active throughout their lifetime. They do this by providing the patients with a support system.
- The families of the affected patients are also provided with support systems to enable them to overcome the hardship during the patient’s life and also after the patient’s death.
- Provides assistance and support to the patients and also to their families whenever they are in need. This involves providing them with a counseling team when the hardships are difficult to overcome and also during the time of mourning.
- Constantly advise the patients on the positive and the quality of life to improve the angle in which the sick view about life.
- It provides care early in the patient’s life. This is achieved by incorporating with other therapies whose main motives are to prolong the life of patients e.g. chemotherapy. Investigations are done in the ways of reducing and managing the distressing symptoms. (Gormley,1999).
Who defines palliative care for children using the following principles
- Palliative care for children is the absolute care that is provided to the child’s body, mind, spirit and also supporting the child’s family.
- It usually starts after the diagnosis of the illness and goes on despite the child being given the treatment for the disease or not.
- Providers of the care must first of all study child’s psychological physical and social conditions and try to assist the child come through all these.
- Successful implementation of palliative care requires support from the child’s family and also from the rest of the community in terms of resource allocation. Palliative care can still be successful even if the resources are scarce.
- Palliative care can also be provided in health centers, children’s homes, and also other tertiary facilities that provide care to the children. (Tannisio, 1999).
Providers of palliative care
Palliative care is mostly provided by two different health and social professions.
- Some provide these services on a day-to-day basis to patients who are at home and also to those who are at the hospital.
- There are those specialists who have specialized in palliative care and therefore provides these services at their hospitals.
Those who are providing this care on day – to –day basis are required to carefully study and access the needs of their patients and also their parents. These studies should be based on the physical, mental, and spiritual state of the patient. They should also be able to meet all the requirements that are required for anyone to conduct this service. They should also seek any assistance from professionals who are trained to provide these services whenever they are in need. ( Jennings, 2004).
Specialists in palliative care also providers this kind of care to the affected patients and their families. They accomplish these by assessing and providing advice to the affected patients and the families who are either at the hospital or in their homes. Specialists provide this care to all the patients who are in hospitals by providing them with the required care and support. They are also supposed to provide coordination to the services provided to the patients who have wished to stay at home due to complex needs. This may involve ensuring that the patient is given his doctor who will be assisted by the district nurse. Also, this team of specialists can team up together to provide nursing and medical services and also support the patients at their own homes. Their responsibilities also lie in the provision of assessment facilities to the patient’s needs in terms of provision for ph