Palliative care

Palliative care seeks to enhance quality of life in the face of Cancer. Palliative treatments focus on the relief of symptoms like pain and conditions like loneliness that cause distress and detract from the child's enjoyment of life. It also seeks to ensure that bereaved families are able to remain functional and intact. Hospice care refers to a package of palliative care services (including, for example, durable medical equipment, and both diagnostic and therapeutic interventions), generally provided by a multidisciplinary group of physicians, nurses, and other personnel, such as chaplains, health aides, and bereavement counselors.

Palliative care includes the control of pain and other symptoms and addresses the psychological, social, or spiritual problems of children (and their families) living with Cancer. The goal of palliative care is the achievement of the best quality of life for patients and their families, consistent with their values, regardless of the location of the patient.

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;
• Offers a support system to help patients live as actively as possible until death;
• Offers a support system to help the family cope during the patients illness and in their own bereavement;
• 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 in the course of 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.

In most of the world, the majority of cancer patients are in advances stages of cancer when first seen by a medical professional. For them, the only realistic treatment option is pain relief and palliative care. Effective approaches to palliative care are available to improve the quality of life for cancer patients.

For more information, contact CanHOPE