Definition: “Care given to improve the quality of life of patients who have a life-threatening disease. The goal of palliative care is to relieve suffering and to improve quality of life.” (Organização Mundial de Saúde – 2002)
In Brazil, there is an incredible lack of knowledge related to palliative care assistance. In consequence ,people receive a very poor assistance in the end of life stage. Health professionals who take care of those patients are constantly under pressure and often have to take a leave of absence. Read more in Project.
The goal of palliative care is to promote the ultimate quality of life when cure is no longer possible. There is a special attention on preventing or treating the symptoms of the disease and/or side effects caused by its treatment. It´s a medical priority to offer pain and other symptoms management. Family and patients social, emotional and spiritual needs are validated, once we know that we need a lot more than physical health in order to feel complete.
Dealing with a life threatening disease is always a time of suffering for patients and families. It is a hard journey when plans and goals are thought over, since there is an enormous preoccupation about the future and what lies ahead. However, the hope of a cure extends beyond the suffering and the journey has periods of confidence, sometimes coexisting with the pain far from the feeling of well being.
At those moments, there might be an awareness that the cure is not a possibility. At that moment, then, there is an opportunity to understand that the cure is simply a small part of the well being, there are other needs, other priorities that have to be addressed. |
