Palliative Care Support

Learner record

Prepared By Margaret Mills

Palliative Care Support QQI Level 5 Assignment

Discuss the philosophy and principles of palliative care;

The term palliative care is to provide relief from pain for peoples who have an illness which is not curable and regards dying as a normal process. It offers support to help patients live as actively as possible an also offers support to help families cope during the patients illness and in their bereavement. Palliative care is provided at the beginning when a person is diagnosed with a terminal illness and continues right through until end of life. It uses a multidisciplinary approach and provides patients with relief from the symptoms of pain, physical and mental stress during their

This is called the multidisciplinary team, and includes a variety of other health care professionals, including physician assistants, oncology nurses, social workers, pharmacists, counsellors, dieticians, healthcare assistants and family members and a priest or minister for their spiritual needs. The common fears that a person who is diagnosed with a life limiting illness can be fear and isolation also anger some people can get depressed also their family members can suffer the same. Speaking with doctors, nurses and counsellors can give them a better understanding of the illness and the treatments. The palliative care team should be involved from the beginning and explain to the patients and their family the different stages they will have to cope with; counsellors can also be a great comfort at this time. A person diagnosed with a life limiting illness can also face financial problems as the expense of travelling for treatment and doctor’s appointments can be

We do not enter and leave each of these stages in any particular order we may feel one then another and back again to the first one. Support workers must always respond with sensitivity and compassion when dealing with the family and patients when the patient is dying and after death. The following is a list of services available from the hospice foundation;

• Providing funding for a night nursing services for patients in the final stages of non cancer illnesses to enable them to be cared for at home

• Helping you find a local hospice or palliative care service

• Providing extensive information on bereavement and bereavement support

• Linking you to additional sources of support for carers

• Pointing you to financial information linked to bereavement/end-of-life care

• Hardship grants a limited grant fund, applied for by hospice or palliative care professionals on behalf of patients and families experiencing severe financial hardship as a result of life-limiting illness