The Canadian Virtual Hospice defines palliative care as that which “supports people who are living with a life-threatening illness, condition, or health situation. It treats the whole person and their family and not just the disease, condition, or body part. Palliative care can be provided to people of any age, in any setting, by healthcare providers, family members, and other caregivers. It is provided for as long as needed – hours, days, weeks, months, or years. Palliative care might also be referred to as comfort care, supportive care, or symptom management.”
Palliative care is also referred to as “end-of-life” care. It is the specialized medical care and support that is needed towards the end of someone’s life, allowing them to pass in the most peaceful and comfortable way. While some people spend their final days in a hospital, hospice or long-term care home, end-of-life care at home has become a preferred option for those who wish to spend their last moments within their own home, and surrounded by their loved ones. An experienced palliative care specialist will offer support to your loved one and make them feel comfortable and safe during what can be a distressing time.
Palliative Care Services can Include:
- Personal care – supporting with bathing and showering
- Support with toileting, including changing incontinence pads or using a commode
- Mobility support, such as help moving position in bed and help with standing or sitting – and using hoists when required
- Administering or prompting medication, and supporting with pain management
- Changing bedding and housekeeping duties
- Preparing meals and snacks to taste and dietary requirements
- Complex care such as support with catheters, stomas and PEG feeding
- Ongoing companionship and emotional support
As described by the National Library of Medicine: “While dying is a normal part of life, death is often treated as an illness. As a consequence, many people die in hospitals, alone and in pain. Palliative care focuses primarily on anticipating, preventing, diagnosing, and treating symptoms experienced by patients with a serious or life-threatening illness and helping patients and their families make medically important decisions. The ultimate goal of palliative care is to improve quality of life for both the patient and the family, regardless of diagnosis. Although palliative care, unlike hospice care, does not depend on prognosis, as the end of life approaches, the role of palliative care intensifies and focuses on aggressive symptom management and psychosocial support.”
Helping patients and their families understand the nature of a serious illness and prognosis is a crucial role filled by palliative care teams near the end of life. Health care providers help patients and their families to determine appropriate medical care and to align the patient’s care goals with those of the palliative care team.
Staff Relief understands the importance of promoting independence and respecting your dignity and privacy. Our palliative care specialists, caregivers and support staff will work with you and your family to understand what your specific needs are in order to provide the appropriate nursing services at home.
Palliative Care at Home can Involve:
- Personal Care – Assistance with bathing, dressing and toileting.
- Incontinence Care – Assistance with changing incontinence pads or managing a stoma or catheter.
- Medication Support – Reminders or prompts, as well as medication administration (nurse level support).
- Mobility Support – Assistance with moving around the home or through gentle support and transfers
- Home Care through assisted living and housekeeping. This can include vacuuming, preparing meals, changing beds or doing the laundry.
- Managing symptoms such as pain management
- Companionship by supporting your independent hom through friendly and personable visits.
Palliative care is appropriate at any stage in a serious illness and can be provided alongside curative treatment. Because palliative care is focused on improving quality of life, it can be helpful in any situation where someone is experiencing stressful symptoms that are showing signs of advance. Palliative care also places importance on open communication in order to optimize assessment and foster growth in dignity and transcendence. Willingness of not just the patient, but also caregivers, to engage is crucial in providing adequate palliative support.
Staff Relief – Trusted Palliative Care Providers
Staff Relief will assist your family with an end of life care plan designed to reduce the burden of suffering resulting from a serious or terminal illness and focus on the quality of life. Our caregivers can provide support with symptom management, medication management, personal care and end-of-life care specific to the needs of your family. You face many difficult decisions on this path; Staff Relief is here to help you achieve the best possible quality of life and care from diagnosis to the end of life through private health care services built around your needs and the needs of your loved ones.