What is palliative care?
Palliative care is person and family-centred care provided for a person with an active, progressive, advanced disease, who has little or no prospect of cure and for whom the primary goal is to optimise the quality of life.
Palliative care helps people live their life as fully and as comfortably as possible when living with a life-limiting or terminal illness.
Palliative care identifies and treats symptoms which may be physical, emotional, spiritual or social. Because palliative care is based on individual needs, the services offered will differ but may include:
- Relief of pain and other symptoms e.g. vomiting, shortness of breath
- Equipment needed to aid care at home
- Assistance for families to come together to talk about sensitive issues
- Planning for future medical treatment decisions and goals of care
- Links to other services such as home help and financial support
- Support for people to meet cultural obligations
- Support for emotional, social and spiritual concerns
- Counselling and grief support
- Referrals to respite care services
Palliative care is a family-centred model of care, meaning that family and carers can receive practical and emotional support.
Early referral to palliative care can often prolong life and certainly supports a better quality of life. Palliative care can be given alongside treatments given by other doctors.
End-of-life care is a specific phase of the palliative care journey. Generally, end-of-life-care is the last few weeks of life in which a patient is rapidly approaching death. The needs of the patient and their carers are higher at this time. This phase of palliative care is recognised as one in which increased services and support are essential to ensure quality, coordinated care. This takes into account the terminal phase or when the patient is recognised as imminently dying, death and then extends to bereavement care for loved ones.
Reference: Palliative Care Australia https://palliativecare.org.au/
Link to Patient brochure: https://palliativecare.org.au/wp-content/uploads/dlm_uploads/2020/03/PalliativeCare-What-is-palliative-care-brochure-DL_FINAL.pdf
