Palliative services are an integral part of the overall management of patients with chronic conditions. It is given to improve the life of persons that have been diagnosed with diseases without a known cure. The idea of this kind of treatment is to shift the focus from the illness to the whole individual. Patients wishing to receive palliative care in Tulsa need to understand a number of things in this kind of disease treatment.
Although the diseases for which palliation is indicated are usually incurable, there are many ways in which side effects can be managed and prevented. Such side effects may be physical, emotional, social or spiritual. Depending on the nature of the illness, this kind of care may be provided within hospital premises or at home. The choice is also determined by the costs involved and the presence of the patient and their family.
Cancer is a leading cause of death worldwide and often requires palliative care especially if metastases have occurred. Although some forms of the condition can be treated, a majority of them cannot and are considered terminal. Persons that have a diagnosis of terminal cancer have a right to dignified living even as they near their end of life. Severe sepsis, liver and renal failure and end stage HIV/AIDS may also require palliation.
Offering palliative services is a product of teamwork. Many different specialists have to work together in coordinated fashion to attend to the needs of the patient. The type of specialists needed largely depends on the exact nature of the illness. Each specialist has special training to handle this type of patients and focuses on just one area. A typical multidisciplinary team would comprise nurses, doctors, dieticians, social workers and religious leaders.
Emotional needs are also quite many and important. They may include anxiety, psychological stress and depression. The severity greatly varies from one person to the other and so the manner in which they can be dealt with is also greatly individualized. The treatment for these emotional problems needs to be initiated as soon as possible and should be continued for the entire duration of the illness. Psychotherapy and the use of drugs are the two common ways of treatment used.
Physical needs are arguably the most pressing for a patient on palliation. They mainly include signs and symptoms related to the condition. The most common among these are pain, nausea, shortness of breath and vomiting. Every effort should be made to make the patient free of these symptoms. When managing pain, for instance, the strongest effective drug should be used regardless of whether or not It is addictive.
There is a need to clearly distinguish between palliation and a related condition, hospice care. The former is usually initiated once a diagnosis of a chronic illness is made. It can be started at any point along the continuum of care. Hospice care, on the other hand, comes at the very end. It is started in patients in whom the disease identified has no known cure.
Palliative care is closely related to hospice care but the two are not synonymous. While palliation can be started at any point following the diagnosis of a potentially terminal illness, hospices come in when the curative possibility has been ruled out. Palliation helps patients in making a slow transition to acceptance that the disease in question may indeed be incurable.
Although the diseases for which palliation is indicated are usually incurable, there are many ways in which side effects can be managed and prevented. Such side effects may be physical, emotional, social or spiritual. Depending on the nature of the illness, this kind of care may be provided within hospital premises or at home. The choice is also determined by the costs involved and the presence of the patient and their family.
Cancer is a leading cause of death worldwide and often requires palliative care especially if metastases have occurred. Although some forms of the condition can be treated, a majority of them cannot and are considered terminal. Persons that have a diagnosis of terminal cancer have a right to dignified living even as they near their end of life. Severe sepsis, liver and renal failure and end stage HIV/AIDS may also require palliation.
Offering palliative services is a product of teamwork. Many different specialists have to work together in coordinated fashion to attend to the needs of the patient. The type of specialists needed largely depends on the exact nature of the illness. Each specialist has special training to handle this type of patients and focuses on just one area. A typical multidisciplinary team would comprise nurses, doctors, dieticians, social workers and religious leaders.
Emotional needs are also quite many and important. They may include anxiety, psychological stress and depression. The severity greatly varies from one person to the other and so the manner in which they can be dealt with is also greatly individualized. The treatment for these emotional problems needs to be initiated as soon as possible and should be continued for the entire duration of the illness. Psychotherapy and the use of drugs are the two common ways of treatment used.
Physical needs are arguably the most pressing for a patient on palliation. They mainly include signs and symptoms related to the condition. The most common among these are pain, nausea, shortness of breath and vomiting. Every effort should be made to make the patient free of these symptoms. When managing pain, for instance, the strongest effective drug should be used regardless of whether or not It is addictive.
There is a need to clearly distinguish between palliation and a related condition, hospice care. The former is usually initiated once a diagnosis of a chronic illness is made. It can be started at any point along the continuum of care. Hospice care, on the other hand, comes at the very end. It is started in patients in whom the disease identified has no known cure.
Palliative care is closely related to hospice care but the two are not synonymous. While palliation can be started at any point following the diagnosis of a potentially terminal illness, hospices come in when the curative possibility has been ruled out. Palliation helps patients in making a slow transition to acceptance that the disease in question may indeed be incurable.
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You can find a summary of the factors that determine the cost of palliative care in Tulsa at http://www.millerhospicetulsa.com right now.
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