Palliative Care of patients Assignment Help

INTRODUCTION

Palliative care is a specialized medical care for the patients with serious illness. In this type of care is the main focus is on providing the relief from the symptoms and the stress that is caused by the serious illness. The main goal of the treatment is to improve the quality of the life for both the patient and the family.

The role of palliative care at the end of life is to relieve the suffering of patients. This is done by comprehensive assessment and treatment of physical, psychosocial, and spiritual symptoms of the patient.

The palliative care can be provided by the specially-trained team of doctors and nurses. Some other specialists who work together with the patients are the other doctors who provide an extra insight for the treatment of the disease. Palliative care is appropriate at any age and at any given stage of the serious illness. The palliative treatment can be provided along with the curative treatment. Both of the treatments help in increasing the life of the patient suffering from the illness and also help in uplifting the quality of the life the patient has been leading.

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PALLIATIVE CARE PROVIDES-

Improves Quality of Life

The first and the foremost thing that the palliative treatment provides is that it helps in improving the quality of the life that the patient is leading because of the disease.

Palliative care teams specialize in treating people suffering from the terminal illnesses. They treat the symptoms and the stress of the disease such as-

• Cancer
• Congestive heart failure (CHF)
• Kidney disease
• Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS)
• Alzheimer’s Disease
• Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD)
• Parkinson’s Disease

Close Communication

The palliative care team spends time talking to the patient and listening to his feelings. They make sure the patient understands all the treatment modalities that he can choose from. They take time to deeply exploring the personal goals of the patient,

The palliative care team tries their best to help you match those goals and the options. They will also make sure that all of the doctors work in a coordinated manner and also tries to know and understand what the patient wants.

A Partnership of Palliative Care Team, Patient and Family

Palliative care teams are specialists that coordinate with the patients family and other doctors who are also providing the curative treatment. The team helps in providing that extra layer of support which is needed the most. They not only treat your symptoms they also use the palliative care treatment to spend time communicating with both the patient and their family.

Palliative Care is given by-

Health care provider can also provide palliative care to the patients. But there are some providers that specialize in giving palliative care. The following can provide palliative care.

• A team of doctors
• Nurses
• Psychologists
• Massage therapists
• Registered dietitians
• Social workers

Palliative care is offered by hospitals, home care agencies and cancer centers. If the patient wants palliative care then the hospital can give you the names of the centers nearby.

The Difference between Palliative Care and Hospice

Both the palliative care and hospice have a common aspect and that is that they provide comfort. Palliative care begins with the diagnosis, and treatment at the same time.

Hospice care commences after the treatment of the disease and is stopped and when it is confirmed that the person will not be able to survive the illness. Hospice care is offered when the person is expected to live for 6 months or maybe less.

TREATMENT

Palliative care is basically a symptomatic treatment. Instead of treating the cause of the disease the symptoms are treated so that the patient can find a little relief. This kind of treatment is provided because the disease is usually fatal and the main focus of the nurses and staff is to improve the life that the patient is leading because there is a very grim possibility that the patient can be free of the disease. Therefore the major focus is on decreasing the symptoms.

Symptomatic Relief

This palliative treatment takes care of the following symptoms so that the patient can feel a little better-

• Pain
• Depression
• shortness of breath
• constipation
• fatigue
• nausea
• loss of appetite
• difficulty sleeping
• anxiety
• any other symptoms that may be causing distress

The team that provides the palliative treatment will help the patient regain the strength to carry on with the daily life with same effervescence. In short, palliative care will help improve your quality of life and the patient will be able to live his life as normally as possible in the diseased state.

VARIOUS OTHER TREATMENTS

Treatments can be of many types. For example treatment with, medicines and nutritional is different. Palliative care also requires emotional and social guidance, to fight the disease. Other needs which are more practical like the financial needs and the transportation needs.

• Medicine- Medicines are given for various conditions like to overcome, pain, abdominal upset, or to cumber vomiting and dizziness. Medicines play the major role in the symptomatic treatment.
• Nutritional guidance- The patient may become weak with the chronic illness and hence, the nutritional guidance is mandatory to maintain the quality of life. If the patient is becoming anorexic then he should be taken care of with all the vitamins and nutrients and a balanced diet.
• Physical therapy- Te physical body should be maintained and thus the patient should be made to walk and should not be bedridden.
• Occupational therapy- If the patient is in the condition to work then he or she should be allowed to maintain the normal functioning of the brain.
• Emotional, social, and coping problems- Patients and their families go through a lot of stress during illness. Fear, anxiety, depression and hopelessness ingresses in them and hence, they should also be treated.
• Counseling- The patient should be counseled that he can live like he used to do before and can cope with the disease in the best manner possible.
• Support groups- This way they can meet the like-minded people and can learn through their success stories. This plays a major role in bringing the positive attitude.
• Family meetings- Family can help in the healing of the patient as they are the closest to the patient.
• Practical problems- Some of the problems which are practical like money- or job-related problems, and insurance questions. In such cases, they explain the complex medical forms or help families understand treatment choices and also provide families with much financial counseling

Alzheimer’s Disease and Palliative Care

Alzheimer’s Disease is known as dementia of old age. Dementia means that the person has difficulty with memory, judgment and reasoning. The person might not be able to recognize the surroundings or the people who are a part of the family.

The person cannot find the right words and cannot perform certain tasks. The most common risk factor for Alzheimer’s Disease is age. Alzheimer’s Disease can be very stressful for both the patient and the family members. No cure available for or the disease. The patients only need more care and support of the loved ones till the time they will survive.

Alzheimer’s Disease Symptoms and Treatment—How Palliative Care Can Help

Just like it has been described earlier the goal of the treatment is to improve quality of life for both the patient and their family. The patient can take palliative care at any age and at any stage of your illness along with the curative treatment. Involving a palliative care team is very useful in healing the patient.

Palliative care helps treat the major symptoms of Alzheimer’s Disease. They are such as-

• Depression,
• Anxiety
• Difficulty sleeping.

The team provides the different things that should be avoided as they may act as trigger points. They teach the family to maintain a routine with the patient. Physical exercise and memory therapy are also included in the part of the routine so that the body and the mind both remain fit.

A calm and quiet environment with proper lighting so that good sleep habits can be instilled in the patient. Once the diagnosis part is complete, the palliative care team can serve as part of your support structure as early as possible before the condition of the patient worsens. Teams will discuss what is important to the patient. They decide what level of care the patient wants when they enter the last stage of Alzheimer’s Disease.

Palliative care can help your family to decide whether they want to keep the patient at home or in an assisted living facility or a nursing home. The team also provides the much-needed family guidance to cope with the concerns and helps in making decisions about the feeding difficulties, infection and the hospitalization.

The Alzheimer’s Disease is one o the most painful condition as the patient cannot be left alone at any moment. He or she should be taken care of all the times. Usually, people at home are busy and cannot take such good care of the patient. Hence, in such cases, the palliative care is the best treatment that can be given to the patient.