Definition of Palliative Care:
According to WHO- “It is an approach that improves the quality of life of patients and their families facing the problem associated with life-threatening illness, through the prevention and relief of suffering by means of early identification and impeccable assessment and treatment of pain and other problems, physical, psychosocial and spiritual.
Palliative Care for Children:
Palliative care for children represents a special, albeit closely related field to adult palliative care. WHO’s definition of this type of care appropriate for children and their families is as follows; the principles apply to other pediatric chronic disorders.
- Palliative care for children is the active total care of the child’s body, mind and spirit, and also involves giving support to the family.
- It begins when illness is diagnosed, and continues regardless of whether or not a child receives treatment directed at the disease.
- Health providers must evaluate and alleviate a child’s physical, psychological, and social distress.
- Effective care requires a broad multidisciplinary approach that includes the family and makes use of available Community resources; it can be implemented even if resources are limited.
- It can be provided in tertiary care facilities, in community health centers and even in children’s homes.
Why Palliative Care is Most Important at the End of Life Care?
Importance of Palliative Care at the End of Life Care:
It includes the following:
- Affirms life and regards dying as a normal process,
- Intends neither to hasten nor postpone death;
- Integrates the psychological and spiritual aspects of patient care
- Offers a support system to help patients live as actively as possible until death;
- Offers a support system to help the family cope during the patients illness and in their own bereavement;
- Uses a team approach to address the needs of patients and their families, including bereavement counseling, if indicated,
- Provides relief from pain and other distressing symptoms,
- Will enhance quality of life, and may also positively influence the course of illness
- Is applicable early in the course of illness, in conjunction with other therapies that are intended to prolong life, such as chemotherapy or radiation therapy, and includes those investigations needed to better understand and manage distressing clinical complications.
- Distressing clinical complication.
- Guidelines for home care services should include basic management of palliative care by family members and community volunteers.
Aims or Goals of Palliative Care:
- Improves quality of life.
- Provides relief from pain and other distressing symptoms.
- Supports life and regards dying as a normal process.
- Doesn’t quicken or postpone death.
- Combines psychological and spiritual aspects of care.
- Offers a support system to help people live as actively as possible until death.
- Offers a support system to help the family cope during a person’s illness and in bereavement.
- Uses a team approach to address the needs of the person who is ill and their families.
- Also applies to the earlier stages of illness, alongside other therapies that are aimed at prolonging life.
Maria Khatun Mona is a Founder and Editor of Nursing Exercise Blog. She is a Nursing and Midwifery Expert. Currently she is working as a Registered Nurse at Evercare Hospital, Dhaka, Bangladesh. She has great passion in writing different articles on Nursing and Midwifery. Mail her at “maria.mona023@gmail.com”