palliative care

[brujapatsy]

is there a difference between palliative care and hospice

my very ill brother is refusing palliative care because he thinks it means he is near his end

his wife needs some help at home as she cannot do it all herself

she will be ill herself at this rate

my brother has IPF and has been offered palliative care

[johnwr]

Hello brujapatsy,

I think you may find what you need by reading this article. Within it there is a comparisson of palliative care and hospice. Hope this settles the fears for all of you

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palli...

All of you, breathe easy,

Johnwr

[Gidge]

If he has been offered palliative care, then it is aimed at making his life more comfortable by relieving symptoms etc. It is not aimed at curing a person, but in the case of IPF there is no cure. It also involves supporting the carer - your sister-in-law will be no use to him if she is worn out and stressed looking after him with no help. According to the NHS website it is offered as an 'end of life' service, where end of life is considered to be the last 12 months - although it does say palliative care can be givien for years. It can be given in the community or in a hospice setting. It's very hard for someone to accept they are becoming 'a burden', but it must be obvious to him that his wife could do with a hand.Maybe that's the way to go - letting him know that she is finding things hard and could do with help to cope.I know it is tricky - when my Mum needed a wheelchair in the end we had to say 'look, it's not for you it's for us, to make life easier' and once she accepted that we got one and it was in constant use.I guess bottom line is he doesn't want to accept what life has dealt him - who does! Good luck, hope things turn out OK. Gill

[Hergernt]

To define palliative as remedy that alleviates without curing would suggest the question asked is where would the patient prefer the care to be delivered. This was discussed with myself and my carers some time ago as it would enable my community matron to know the plans to put into place for end of life care whilst I was still fit enough to make such decisions. Arrangements for counselling should also be part of the palliative care allaying patient fears as far as possible.

[tanyamarie]

Hi, dad has ipf like ur brother as you know and he has been having 'palliative care' for a while now. The first thing that came into my mind when it was mentioned was, he's going to die and soon. I was devastated. But it was explained in a way exactly like Gill said. His Gp said they should find another term for it because she wanted to emphasise to dad that she didn't think he was going anywhere very soon and that in his case it is purely for care purposes. Yes he is end stage and we know he doesn't have much time left but I think it depends on your perspective and dad accepts his condition and does whatever is easier for everyone all round.

[serenityfrank]

Wikipedia says palliative care includes " physicians, pharmacists, nurses, chaplains, social workers, psychologists, and other allied health professionals in formulating a plan of care to relieve suffering in all areas of a patient's life".

I guess this must mean in the States - it certainly does not happen in good old Gloucestershire

[brujapatsy]

thank you all so much for taking the time to reply .

I live in spain and at the moment i am in scotland for other family reasons

i am going to go to my brothers home on monday instead of returning to my home

i am now armed with a lot more info and hope to explain things better and with more detail to my brother.

I have emphysema since 2008 and other medical probs, watching the progression of my brothers illness is in the back of my mind as to how will I be at this stage .

once again thanks to all and stay well

pat

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