What does Palliative Care really mean?

Palliative Care Terminology

For clarification of the word Palliative care and what it encompasses. Here it is as defined by the https://hpca.co.za

What is palliative care?

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.

Palliative Care:

  • provides relief from pain and other distressing symptoms;
  • affirms life and regards dying as a normal process;
  • intends neither to hasten or postpone death;
  • integrates the psychological and spiritual aspects of patient care;
  • uses a team approach to address the needs of patients and their families, including bereavement counselling, if indicated;
  • will enhance quality of life, and may also positively influence the course of illness;
  • is applicable early during illness, in conjunction with other therapies that are intended to prolong life, such as chemotherapy or radiation therapy, and includes those investigations needed to better understand and manage distressing clinical complications.
  • Palliative care for children is the active total care of the child’s body, mind and spirit, and involves giving support to the family.
  • It begins when illness is diagnosed, and continues regardless of whether or not a child receives treatment directed at the disease.
  • Health providers must evaluate and alleviate a child’s physical, psychological, and social distress.
  • Effective palliative care requires a broad multidisciplinary approach that includes the family and makes use of available community resources; it can be successfully implemented even if resources are limited.

What is palliative care for children?

Palliative care for children represents a special, albeit closely related field to adult palliative care.

World Health Organization’s (WHO) definition of palliative care appropriate for children and their
families is as follows; the principles apply to other paediatric chronic disorders (WHO; 1998a):

  • Palliative care for children is the active total care of the child’s body, mind and spirit,
    and also involves giving support to the family.
  • It begins when illness is diagnosed, and continues regardless of whether or not a child receives
    treatment directed at the disease.
  • Health providers must evaluate and alleviate a child’s physical, psychological, and social distress.
  • Effective palliative care requires a broad multidisciplinary approach that includes the family and makes
    use of available community resources; it can be successfully implemented even if resources are limited.
  • It can be provided in tertiary care facilities, in community health centres and even in children’s homes.