What is palliative care

Palliative care is all treatment and care aimed at relieving the suffering of patients with serious illnesses. It treats the side effects or symptoms of an illness or its treatment. Both physical and emotional symptoms are included. They can be performed in a hospital admission or at home thanks to a doctor at home.

Pathologies requiring palliative care

  1. Cancer
  2. Advanced or end-stage organ failure: respiratory failure (COPD), heart failure (CHF), liver failure or renal failure
  3. Neurodegenerative disease: dementia, stroke, multiple sclerosis or amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.

Palliative care at home

Palliative care at home consists of a comprehensive, active and individualized care to the patient in the final phase of the disease and their families, which includes all areas or spheres of the person: physical, emotional, social and spiritual, having as main objectives to alleviate suffering and promote comfort and quality of life until the end.

  • Pain control: preferential attention to the treatment of pain, we are specialists in the management of analgesics by different routes of administration including opioid drugs.
  • Treatment of other physical symptoms: whether they are due to the disease or to the side effects of therapies, we take care of treating and alleviating the symptoms that alter the patient’s quality of life.
  • Psychosocial support: we treat the emotional aspects, understanding the patient and his environment as a unit to be treated. Psychological support and fluid communication are vital in the process of accompaniment for the patient and family.
  • Active listening and support in other aspects such as the resolution of practical or logistical issues, decision making, spiritual sphere…
  • Personalized advice on available social and health care resources, legal documents (DVA)…
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When is palliative care needed?

There are global criteria that define when a disease is in advanced stage and therefore palliative care is needed:

  1. Incurable advanced disease
  2. Absence of response to treatment
  3. Presence of numerous problems or severe symptoms
  4. Emotional impact on the patient and family members due to the presence of impending death.
  5. Limited prognosis of life, less than 6 months.