Palliative Care is a multidisciplinary approach to specialised medical care for people living with a terminal illness where a cure is no longer (or not yet) possible. It’s also for patients who suffer from a complex illness and have the need to have some control over their symptoms. Palliative care is appropriate at any age, and at any stage in a serious illness.

Palliative care teams are made up of doctors, nurses, and other professional medical caregivers, and usually will be formed at the facility where the patient first receive treatment. The approach’s main aim is to help improve the quality of life for both the patient and their family. Following are some of the main benefits that palliative care can bring to the patient, their family, and their doctors:

Patient

• Pain (physical & psychological) and symptoms relief
• Reduce psychological, social, and spiritual suffering
• If done right, could help strengthen relationships between the patient and other people, include but not limit to family members
• Provide a sense of control over illness, which in turn help the patient to gain more strength to carry on with daily life
• Avoid prolonged dying as illness symptoms will be controlled and monitored closely by health care professionals

Patient’s Family

• Reduce the burden of illness
• More support with caregiving tasks
• Provide more help with emotional wellbeing
• Help prepare for anticipatory grief

Doctors

• Make it easier to monitor and manage patient’s pain & symptoms
• Able to provide appropriate and in-time relief measures
• As palliative care help to improve patient’s ability to withstand medical treatment, this will make it easier for doctors to do their job better and focus more on battling patient’s underlying illness
• Make it easier to explain to patients & their family about treatment options

Home Instead Senior Care Outer East’s CAREGivers are professionally-trained on providing palliative care for seniors. We take it personal to deliver the best care for your seniors, making sure that they are comfortable, as healthy as possible to combat their illness while still able to maintain their independence throughout the caregiving process. Our services are available 24/7, even on public holidays.

Thanks for reading through this Blog, I hope you have found it useful. If you require any further assistance please feel free to contact the office.

Kind regards,
Suzanne McLoughlin
Owner of Home Instead Senior Care Outer East

P.S. We provide free Care Consultations and resource guides to support and guide families. Download your free copies from our Aged Care Resources page or Request a Free Information Pack to receive a hard copy.