Lecture 7- End of Life Care Flashcards
Who provides palliative care?
- A team of doctors, nurses, and other specialists who work together to provide an extra layer of support. It is appropriate at ANY age and at ANY state in a serious illness and can be provided along with curative treatment
Palliative care definition
- specialized medical care for patients with serious illnesses
- ## provides patients with relief from the symptoms, pain, and stress of a serious illness- whatever the diagnosis.
The goal of palliative care
To improve the quality of life for both the patient and the family
Growth of palliative care growth in the last 15 years
- Rapidly rising trend!
- Sees the person beyond the disease
- Represents a major paradigm shift in health care delivery
What do palliative care teams treat?
People living with serious, complex, and chronic illnesses-
- ex. cancer, CHF, COPD, Renal failure, Dementia, Parkinson’s, ALS etc…
- At ANY stage of their illness
- Palliative care considered a KEY COMPONENT of medical care along with all other appropriate treatments
Palliative care teams provide what to improve quality and support to the primary physician, patient, and family?
- Time to devote to intensive family meetings and patient/family communication
- Communication and support for resolving family/patient/physician questions concerning goals of care
- Expertise managing complex physical and emotional symptmos (pain, dyspnea, depression, nausea)
PC teams help improve….
- Patient and family satisfaction with overall medical treatment, physicians and the health care team
- HCAHPS- standards by contributing to reduced readmissions and hospital mortality
Palliative care takes care of the ___ ______ while the specialists take care of the ______ ________
- “whole person”
- “ Patient’s Disease”
Rationale for Palliative care
- reach adequate control of pain and other symptoms
- Achieve a sense of control
- Relieve burden on family members and strengthen relationship
- gain realistic understanding of the nature of the illness
- Understanding pros and cons of available treatment alternatives
- Name decision makers in case of loss of decisional capacity
- Have financial affairs in order
When does palliative care occur?
- NOT just when they are about to die
- Should potentially begin immediately upon diagnosis- will likely increase as the disease progresses
3 trajectories of serious illness
- Steady decline- short terminal phase (ex. pancreatic, lung cancer)
- Slow decline, periodic crises, then sudden death (ex. CHF, COPD)
- Prolonged dwindling (ex. General frailty, Dementia)
Palliative care services
- Establish goals of care (ESSENTIAL)
- Treatment of symptoms- pain and non-pain
- Psychosocial support/spiritual care
Treatment Options for serious illness/end of life
- Life prolonging care- maximize length of survival, even if some compromise of other values- quantity of life is more important than quality of life
- Limited medical care- Use of selected medical interventions, often while determining the balance between benefit and burden
- Comfort care- Maximize pain and symptom relief, even if life is somewhat foreshortened- quality of life is greater than quantity of life
How do hospital-based palliative care programs work?
- consultation services
- Inpatient palliative care unit for inpatients
- Co-management in the ED and ICU
Physician concerns about incorporating palliative care
- Concern that introducing it could interfere with therapy directed at extending life as long as possible
- Inadequate patient resources
- Issues related to reimbursement
- Shortage of palliative care physicians and services.
