Palliative care - it's more than you think
This week we will be looking at Palliative care, which refers to high quality health care and support for people living with a life-limiting illness and their families. Palliative care helps people to live as well as they can by managing pain and symptoms to ensure their quality of life is maintained as the illness progresses.
Palliative care identifies and treats symptoms and issues associated with life-limiting illness which may be physical, emotional, spiritual or social. Palliative care is a family-centred model of care, meaning that family and carers can also receive practical and emotional support.
Palliative care is about maintaining quality of life. The aim of palliative care is neither to hasten nor postpone death. Rather, the focus is on living as well as possible, for as long as possible.
Who is palliative care for?
Palliative care is for anyone of any age who have been diagnosed with a life limiting illness.
Adult palliative care assists people with illnesses such as cancer, motor neurone disease, dementia, chronic heart failure, end-stage kidney or lung disease to manage symptoms and improve quality of life.
Palliative care extends to provide support and advice for family and carers.
Who is in the palliative care team?
Palliative care can be provided by a range of health professionals and other support services. They are supported by specialist palliative care services if symptoms become difficult to manage.
Palliative care teams may include people from a range of health and social support professions and backgrounds including:
Doctors
Nurses
Allied health professionals
Social workers
Pharmacists
Physiotherapists
Occupational and speech therapists
Psychologists
Dietitians
Spiritual/pastoral practitioners
Palliative care trained volunteers.
You can find out more about Palliative Care at https://morethanyouthink.org.au. It is a great resource for any questions you might have about palliative care and looks at taking the stigma of palliative care away.