Palliative Care: What Is It and When Do You Need It?
More than 50 million people worldwide need palliative care every year, but only about 12 percent of those who could use it, receive it, according to the World Health Organization. Palliative Care helps relieve unnecessary suffering for patients and their families.
Palliative care promotes comfort and relieves the symptoms of a life-limiting diagnosis. Unlike hospice care, patients can continue to receive curative treatments while receiving palliative services. Palliative care is helpful at any stage of an illness, but it’s best provided soon after a person is diagnosed. This is because curative treatments often have side effects and palliative care can relieve many of them as well as ease symptoms and stress related to the diagnosis.
When determining the right care for a loved one, ensure the palliative team listens closely as you describe your situation so they know what your greatest needs are. Describe what you know about the illness and the symptoms. Ask how they will care for the patient’s physical and emotional needs. Describe what your goals are for receiving care and explain what challenges you have and need help overcoming.
The illnesses most commonly treated with palliative care include:
- Alzheimer’s disease
- Cancer
- Diabetes
- Heart disease
- Kidney disease
- Parkinson’s disease
- Stroke
When meeting with a potential palliative care team, listen to the information you receive about the illness to ensure they are describing it in an easy to understand way so you have the knowledge you need to make informed decisions. Ask them to educate you on the disease trajectory and co-existing health conditions (referred to as comorbidity). Ask for different care options and scenarios.
Research shows that palliative care improves pain and symptoms, increases family satisfaction with the care loved ones receive and reduces health care costs. It has even been shown to help some patients live longer. That’s because palliative care plays an essential role in coordinating care of both palliative and primary care treatment plans. Palliative team members advocate for the family and patient in completing advanced care planning so treatment wishes are documented and followed.
Partnering with patients’ medical teams, we offer these services at our palliative care clinic, or in some cases, in your home.
- Physician or nurse practitioner visits
- Education about your prognosis and healthcare treatment options
- Relief from pain and symptoms resulting from a serious illness
- Education and documentation of advance directives
- Emotional support
In deciding when to bring in palliative care, consider these aspects:
- Life-limiting illness or terminal diagnosis
- Serious disease progression
- Multiple hospitalizations and emergency room visits
- Complex symptom management
- Need to develop goals of care
- Advance care planning needs
If you are unsure if your loved one needs palliative care, contact us at: 970-663-3500 or info@pathways-care.org