Is It Important? Yes – Learn Why You Should Ask for Palliative Care.
– PALLIATIVE CARE –
What Is It? Is It Right For you? How To Get it?
is-it-important-yes-learn-why-you-should-ask-for-palliative-care
Learn Why Palliative Care is So Important.
“Palliative care should be a standard part of medicine, in every insurance plan and every hospital.”
Dr. Steve Pantilat, Chief, Division of Palliative Medicine UCSF*
Walker Safety Tips for Seniors – Choosing & Using the Right One
Learn Why Palliative Care is So Important
Palliative Care teams can treat symptoms like pain, anxiety, stress, shortness of breath and more.
While it can encompass End-of-Life Care or Hospice Care, Palliative Care is not only for people who are terminally ill.
The goal is to improve the quality of life for both the patient and the family and “restore realism to doctor-patient relations and relieve physical and emotional suffering”.
Dr. Steve Pantilat, Chief, Division of Palliative Medicine UCSF
Learn Why Palliative Care is so important and how it helps those with life-threatening illness’.
Walker Safety Tips for Seniors – Choosing & Learn Why Palliative Care is So Important
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What is Palliative Care?
Learn Why Palliative Care is So Important
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- It is specialized medical care for those living with a serious illness that can help you live more comfortably and improve your quality of life. It is useful at any point of a serious illness.
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- Helps you and your family with medical, social and emotional support to cope with a life-threatening illness, while your primary care team works towards the best outcome for your condition.
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- You can receive Palliative Care no matter your age, prognosis or whether you receive treatments.
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- Palliative Care provides an essential layer of support, relief, hope and ensures everyone involved is on the same page.
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- Provides support based on the needs of the patient, not on the patient’s prognosis.
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“Palliative Care helps people with serious illness live better in the time they have.”
Dr. Steve Pantilat, Chief, Division of Palliative Medicine UCSF
Learn Why Palliative Care is So Important
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Who Provides Palliative Care?
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- Palliative Care teams can include specially trained teams of doctors, nurses and specialists who support you and your family, and work with your other doctors.
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- Your team may include: Doctors, Nurses, Social Workers, Nutritionists, Financial Advisors, Spiritual Advisors and Advocates.
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- Care can be provided by hospitals, nursing homes, outpatient palliative care clinics and certain other specialized clinics, or at home.
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- Medicare, Medicaid, and other insurance policies may cover Palliative Care; check with your provider.
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Personalize Treatment to the Patients’ Goals
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- Palliative Care teams help you match your medical treatment choices to YOUR goals and communicates those goals to ALL your doctors – that way, the whole team, palliative & curative, know what the patient wants.
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- How does this help? It gives patients and their families more control over the care received and improves the patient’s quality of life during the illness and the treatments for it.
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Benefits of Palliative Care (along with Primary Care Treatments)
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- Research shows that Palliative Care can: Increase Life expectancy, Reduce anxiety and depression, and Improve the patient and caregiver experience.
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- It can be used during curative treatment for ANY life-threatening illness such as cancer, heart failure, Alzheimer’s, kidney disease and many more.
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- Palliative Care Teams help with medical testing and communicate directly with your other doctors. This ensures they all work together, relieves patient and family stress, and keeps everyone on the same page.
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- Reduces the suffering caused by serious illness, which can include pain, depression, breathing issues, fatigue, constipation, nausea, loss of appetite, difficulty sleeping, anxiety and much more.
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Recent studies, including one published in the New England Journal of Medicine*, have shown that
“…patients with a serious illness who received Palliative Care lived longer than those who did not receive this care.”
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Is Palliative Care Right For You and What is the Process?
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- Typically, you will need to ASK for a referral for Palliative Care.
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- If you’re not sure if Palliative Care is right for you or your family, ask your doctor
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– OR –
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- Take this Self-Test found on the ‘Get Palliative Care’ website: Is Palliative Care Right For You?
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- As part of the process, you will share your personal preferences and discuss religious and/or cultural beliefs.
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- You will share what ‘quality of life’ means for you and your family.
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- You can share that you want to make your own decisions for care and where you want to receive Palliative Care.
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‘…Palliative Care is often healthier for the patient’s family members, who are at greater risk of depression if they’ve watched their loved ones suffer.
Research shows that by providing realistic options and ensuring that care is consistent with what patients and families want, medical centers can reduce useless interventions and save thousands of dollars for every patient cared for by a palliative care service.’
The James Irvine Foundation Leadership Awards & Dr Pantilat
More Essential Information For You And Your Family:
(Click on the links below)
* This information is for educational purposes and cannot replace a recommendation from your healthcare professional.
For more information check out the following articles:
What to Do When Your Loved One Says “No!” To In-Home Care
OR
What You Need To Know to ‘Age in Place’ Safely
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