Palliative Care Palliative care is a type of medical care designed to help people living with serious illnesses. It should be provided alongside curative care, as it has a different focus: not curing, but managing.
Palliative care helps people to live with these illnesses as comfortably as possible... Palliative care helps people to live with these illnesses as comfortably as possible, reducing the burden of stress on both patients and families, and helping them to improve their quality of life and peace of mind, knowing that their loved ones are living well. This can make a huge difference in people’s lives. Some serious illnesses that can benefit from palliative care are: • Heart failure, • End stage renal failure, • Dementia, • Cancer, • Organ transplants, etc.
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Proper care can seriously reduce the negative impacts of living with these illnesses. It can: • Alleviate pain, • Assist with depression, • Reduce hospitalization admissions, • Alleviate difficulty in breathing, • Increase lifespan/longevity, etc. As we approach the ends of our lives, we must ask ourselves: how can we make our remaining time on this earth as good as possible? Ask yourself three questions: 1. With whom do I want to spend my last days? 2. Where do I want to be? 3. How do I want the experience to be? With proper and professional care, the answers can be: 1) with my friends and family, 2) in the comfort of my home, 3) feeling comfortable and pain-free. Qualified health care workers play an important role in quality care. That is why palliative care should become a priority in your medical planning when faced with serious illness. Fiona Booysen, Director at Fair Nursing. (Post Basic Diploma in Nephrology/ Nimart Trained.) info@fairnursing.co.za, 082 304 7356
