Palliative care refers to all actions taken to support patients’ special needs after an illness, including physical, psychological, emotional, spiritual, and social aspects, notes Dr. Margarita Eugenia Araujo Navarrete, palliative care specialist at ABC Medical Center.
The World Health Organization notes that a wide range of illnesses require palliative care. Most adults who need it live with chronic conditions such as cardiovascular disease (38.5%), cancer (34%), chronic respiratory disease (10.3%), AIDS (5.7%), and diabetes (4.6%). Many other conditions may also call for palliative support, for example, kidney failure, chronic liver disease, multiple sclerosis, Parkinson’s disease, rheumatoid arthritis, neurological conditions, dementia, congenital abnormalities, and drug-resistant tuberculosis.
An important consideration when discussing a person’s illness and palliative care is the emotional stability of family members, ensuring they feel calm and can support the patient through this time. That said, this support should always be given freely and thoughtfully, since this allows for as little suffering as possible on both sides.
One of the most difficult aspects of palliative care is aligning the thoughts, wishes, and goals of the patient and their family while still respecting the patient’s autonomy, meaning allowing them to make their own decisions once they’ve received enough information from their doctors.
A family is made up of individuals, and each one reacts differently to illness, depending on their relationship with the patient, their connection, how they communicate, and other personal circumstances.
Palliative care aims to help family members genuinely support the patient, this happens through good communication with the doctors and healthcare professionals involved, so they truly understand the situation and, when needed, can share their input or take part in decisions.
Dr. Araujo notes that, throughout the patient’s care, the family is just as important as the patient themselves. That’s why it’s essential to look after everyone’s physical and emotional wellbeing, to help make this stage of life a little easier to bear.
