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Improving Quality of Life Through Compassionate Palliative Care
Palliative care is specialized medical care for people living with a severe illness. This type of care is focused on providing relief from the symptoms, pain, and stress of a severe disease, with the purpose of improving the quality of life for both the patient and their family. It is appropriate at any age and at any stage of an illness and can be provided alongside curative treatments.
At the Shashikanth Orthopedic Hospital, we believe in a holistic approach to health. Palliative care addresses the whole individual, not just their disease. It focuses on managing physical symptoms while also providing crucial emotional, social, practical, and spiritual support to help you live as actively and comfortably as possible.
The Goal of Palliative Care
The primary goal of palliative care is to alleviate grief and enhance your overall well-being. This is achieved by:
- Relieving Distressing Symptoms: Providing expert management of pain, shortness of breath, fatigue, nausea, difficulty sleeping, and anxiety.
- Supporting Patients and Families: Offering a support system to help patients and their families cope with the emotional and practical challenges of a serious illness.
- Improving Communication: Ensuring clear communication between you, your family, and all of your healthcare providers so that everyone is on the same page.
- Aligning Treatment with Your Goals: Helping you understand your condition and your treatment choices, allowing you to make medical decisions that match your personal values and goals.
Early integration of comforting care has been shown to improve quality of life, decrease depression and anxiety, and in some cases, even extend survival.
Who Can Benefit from Palliative Care?
Palliative care is founded on need, not prognosis, and can benefit anyone of any age encountering a serious or life-threatening condition. It is often provided for illnesses such as:
- Cancer
- Heart disease
- Lung diseases
- Kidney or liver failure
- Dementia and Alzheimer’s
- Parkinson’s disease
- Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS)
Palliative Care vs. Hospice Care: Understanding the Difference
While both palliative maintenance and hospice care provide comfort, they are not the same. The main difference is that palliative care can be supplied at any stage of an illness and alongside curative treatment.
Hospice care is a specific type of comforting care for individuals who are nearing the end of life, typically with a prognosis of six months or less, and are no longer seeking curative treatments. All hospice care is relaxing, but not all palliative care is hospice.
Palliative Care | Hospice Care | |
Focus | Easing pain and discomfort while improving quality of life. | Focusing on comfort and quality of life when a cure is no longer possible. |
Timing | Can begin at diagnosis and be given at the same time as treatment. | Begins after curative treatment has stopped. |
Eligibility | Anyone with a serious illness. | A doctor’s certification that the patient has six months or less to live. |
Treatment | Can be received alongside treatments meant to cure the illness. | Curative treatments are stopped; only symptom relief is provided. |
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Our Multidisciplinary Team Approach
Palliative care is delivered by a specially qualified team that works in partnership with your primary doctor and other specialists. This team approach assures that all aspects of your well-being are addressed. Your team may include:
- Palliative care doctors and nurses
- Social workers
- Spiritual advisors or chaplains
- Physical and occupational therapists
- Nutritionists
This team provides an extra layer of support, helping to coordinate your care and ensure that your treatment plan reflects your personal goals.
What Does Palliative Care Provide?
A serious illness affects all areas of a person’s life. Our palliative care services are created to address this “total pain” by providing comprehensive support.
- Physical Symptom Management: We use a combination of medications and non-drug therapies to manage physical symptoms like pain, fatigue, and shortness of breath. Treatments can include medications, physical therapy, and nutritional guidance.
- Emotional and Social Support: Living with a serious illness can cause fear, anxiety, and depression for both patients and their families. We offer counseling, support groups, and family meetings to help you cope with this emotional strain.
- Practical Support: Our team can help you navigate the practical challenges that arise, such as understanding complex medical forms, making difficult treatment decisions, or connecting with community resources.
- Spiritual Care: For many, a serious illness can lead to questioning their faith or searching for meaning. Our team can help you and your family explore your beliefs and values to find a sense of peace and acceptance.
If you or a loved one is confronting a serious illness, ask your doctor if palliative care is proper for you. It can be a vital part of your care plan from the moment of diagnosis.
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Shashikanth Orthopedic Hospital
Advanced pain management, sports injury care, and minimally invasive orthopedic surgery in Karimnagar.