Palliative care they are a set of cares that aim to improve the quality of life of a sick person and their families, alleviating and preventing suffering in the face of a disease that could end their life.
According to World Health Organization, palliative care consists of a multidisciplinary approach to improve the quality of life of patients and their families in the face of a disease that threatens the continuity of life, through prevention and relief of suffering through early identification, impeccable assessment, treatment of pain and other physical, psychosocial and spiritual.
Goals of Palliative Care according to WHO
- Provide relief from pain and other distressing symptoms;
- Consider dying as a normal process;
- Don't rush or postpone death;
- Integrate the psychological and spiritual aspects of patient care;
- Offer a support system to help patients live as actively as possible until death;
- Offer a support system to help the family deal with the patient's illness and their own grief;
- Use a team approach to meet the needs of patients and their families, including grief counseling if indicated;
- Improve quality of life and positively influence the course of the disease;
- Apply early in the disease, in conjunction with other therapies that aim to prolong life, such as chemotherapy or radiotherapy;
- Conduct investigations necessary to better understand and manage distressing clinical complications.
The word "palliative" comes from latin Pallium, which means cloth or cloak that covers, that hides. It is also used metaphorically as cover up, disguise, cover up. Despite this, in the medical sense, palliative care is not meant to cover up or disguise but to protect.
Also know what is the meaning of Palliative.