Palliative care is a special kind of medical care for people who have serious illnesses, like cancer. The main goal is to make them feel better by easing symptoms like pain, stress, and other problems that come with their illness, and focuses on helping people feel as comfortable as possible.

What Is Palliative Care?

Palliative care can be given to anyone with a serious illness, whether it's something that can be cured or a long-term condition. It can be provided at any stage of the illness – from diagnosis and continue through treatment and beyond. This type of care looks after not just the body, but also the mind and spirit of both patients and their families.

Managing Symptoms

People with serious illnesses often deal with a lot of tough symptoms like pain, tiredness, feeling sick, and trouble breathing. Palliative care doctors and care teams use different methods to help manage these symptoms. According to the American Cancer Society, good symptom management can help people feel better and live more normally day-to-day. In cancer care, adding palliative care can improve symptom control, decrease caregiver stress and trips to the ER/hospital, improve communication with care teams, and may even help people to be more successful with their treatments.

Emotional and Psychological Support

Serious illnesses can also be really hard emotionally. People might feel anxious, depressed, or stressed about their situation. Palliative care teams include doctors, nurses, social workers, and chaplains who offer counseling and support. This emotional help can make a big difference. Research shows that when patients get emotional support, they often feel less anxious and depressed.

Communication and Planning

Another important part of palliative care is making sure everyone involved in a patient's care is on the same page. This includes talking about the patient’s wishes for their treatment and care. This is called advanced care planning. Studies show that when patients plan ahead with their palliative care team, they are more likely to get the kind of care they want.

Sources:

• World Health Organization (WHO). (2020). Palliative care. Retrieved from https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/palliative-care

• American Cancer Society. (2021). Palliative care for cancer patients. Retrieved from https://www.cancer.org/treatment/treatments-and-side-effects/palliative-care.html

• Ferrell, B. R., Temel, J. S., Temin, S., Alesi, E. R., & Balboni, T. A. (2017). Integration of palliative care into standard oncology care: American Society of Clinical Oncology clinical practice guideline update. Journal of Pain and Symptom Management, 54(6), 933-937.

• National Institute of Health (NIH). (2018). The benefits of palliative care. Retrieved from https://www.nih.gov/news-events/nih-research-matters/benefits-palliative-care