Our website is made possible by displaying online advertisements to our visitors.
Please consider supporting us by disabling your ad blocker.
Palliative care
| Occupation | |
|---|---|
Occupation type | Specialty |
Activity sectors | Medicine |
| Description | |
Education required |
|
Fields of employment | Hospitals, clinics |
Palliative care (derived from the Latin root palliare, meaning "to cloak") is an interdisciplinary medical caregiving approach aimed at optimizing quality of life and mitigating suffering among people with serious, complex, and often terminal illnesses.[1] Within the published literature, many definitions of palliative care exist. The World Health Organization (WHO) describes palliative care as
"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".[2]
In the past,[when?] palliative care involved a disease-specific approach, but today the WHO takes a broader patient-centered approach that suggests that the principles of palliative care should be applied as early as possible to any chronic and ultimately fatal illness.[3] This shift was important because if a disease-oriented approach is followed, the needs and preferences of the patient are not fully met and aspects of care, such as pain, quality of life, and social support, as well as spiritual and emotional needs, fail to be addressed.[citation needed] Rather, a patient-centered model prioritizes relief of suffering and tailors care to increase the quality of life for terminally ill patients.[4][need quotation to verify]
Palliative care is appropriate for individuals with serious illnesses across the age spectrum and can be provided as the main goal of care or in tandem with curative treatment. It is provided by interdisciplinary teams which can include physicians, nurses, occupational and physical therapists, psychologists, social workers, chaplains, and dietitians. Palliative care can be provided in a variety of contexts, including hospitals, outpatient clinics, skilled nursing, and home settings. Although an important part of end-of-life care, palliative care is not limited to individuals near the end of life.[1]
Evidence supports the efficacy of a palliative-care approach in improving a person's quality of life.[5][6] Palliative care focuses primarily on improving the quality of life for those with chronic illnesses. It is commonly the case that palliative care is provided at the end of life, but it can be helpful for a person of any stage of illness that is critical or at any age.[7]
- ^ a b Zhukovsky D (2019). Primer of Palliative Care. American Association of Hospice and Palliative Medicine. ISBN 978-1-889296-08-1.
- ^ "WHO Definition of Palliative Care". WHO. Archived from the original on 4 October 2003. Retrieved 4 December 2019.
Palliative care 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.
- ^ Sepúlveda C, Marlin A, Yoshida T, Ullrich A (August 2002). "Palliative Care: the World Health Organization's global perspective". Journal of Pain and Symptom Management. 24 (2): 91–96. doi:10.1016/S0885-3924(02)00440-2. PMID 12231124.
- ^ Khosla D, Patel FD, Sharma SC (September 2012). "Palliative care in India: current progress and future needs". Indian Journal of Palliative Care. 18 (3): 149–154. doi:10.4103/0973-1075.105683. PMC 3573467. PMID 23439559.
- ^ Kavalieratos D, Corbelli J, Zhang D, Dionne-Odom JN, Ernecoff NC, Hanmer J, et al. (November 2016). "Association Between Palliative Care and Patient and Caregiver Outcomes: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis". JAMA. 316 (20): 2104–2114. doi:10.1001/jama.2016.16840. PMC 5226373. PMID 27893131.
- ^ Hoerger M, Wayser GR, Schwing G, Suzuki A, Perry LM (June 2019). "Impact of Interdisciplinary Outpatient Specialty Palliative Care on Survival and Quality of Life in Adults With Advanced Cancer: A Meta-Analysis of Randomized Controlled Trials". Annals of Behavioral Medicine. 53 (7): 674–685. doi:10.1093/abm/kay077. PMC 6546936. PMID 30265282.
- ^ "What is Palliative Care? | Definition of Palliative Care | Get Palliative Care". Archived from the original on 5 July 2020. Retrieved 12 May 2020.
Previous Page Next Page
