What is called Palliative care? How it works ? What is its status in India?

Walking through hospital today I find some poster about palliative care .I want to know what actually it aimed for.

[MsLockYourPosts TeamBCI]

Palliative Care is care aimed at making a patient as comfortable as possible while dealing with treatment and recovery - that is how it is defined in the US. It is not the same as hospice, which is end of life care.

[shirdi]

i m not aware of it. I also want to know about it.

WISH U ALL HAPPY DASARA. PRAY TO GOD TO HELP AND GIVE STRENGTH TO ALL OF US AND FACE THE SITUATION WITH STRONG WILL POWER

[sumeet_shah Administrator]

'Palliative' care, means care given to patients in the last stage of a cancer. These are the patients, whom we cannot offer any active treatment like surgery, chemo or radiation, because the cancer is too far advanced and nothing is likely to work.Or sometimes, the patient is too frail or weak and not likely to tolerate any treatment.

Palliative care means 'palliation' or 'treatment' of symptoms. For pain, pain killers are given; for vomiting, medicines to stop vomiting, etc. Basically, we treat the patient's symptoms. And most important in palliative care is TLC (Tender loving care). These patients wont live long. We need to give them love, place a hand on their head, think of the good memories with them, try to make them feel 'important' and loved. Everything that we can do.

[laya]

Palliative care improves the quality of life of patients and families who face life-threatening illness, by providing pain and symptom relief, spiritual and psychosocial support to from diagnosis to the end of life... 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.

[sumeet_shah Administrator]

Beautifully explained, laya!

[Hidden]

Thanks laya, pkenn and doctor sumeet!

[kontak TeamBCI]

Doctor Sumeet, Laya & Pkenn very well explained.

Laya - do keep on sharing your progress