Talking about death can be quite uncomfortable - in fact, most of us would rather not talk about it at all.
But palliative care isn't only about the very end of life.
Jon San Martin, a Clinical Nurse Consultant with HammondCare, points out that while end-of-life care is an important component, palliative care is not only about care for the last days of life.
“Receiving palliative care doesn’t necessarily mean that the person is likely to die soon, or is in their last days,” said Jon.
“A person can receive palliative care for years if needed.”
The World Health Organisation defines palliative care as an approach that:
Palliative care takes a holistic approach, meaning it treats the whole person, and
encompasses their physical, psychological, social, spiritual and practical needs.
It runs the gamut from pain management and physiotherapy to spiritual counselling and mental health support.
It can be incorporated into active treatment for a life-limiting disease, regardless of the prognosis, with different aspects playing their part as necessary as time passes.
According to HammondCare’s Residential Clinical Governance Advisor, Alex Blanch, palliative care is often brought into the conversation too far down the track.
“Ideally, people should be referred to palliative care as early as possible in the context of a life-limiting illness,” he said.
“That being said, if the person is somewhere like HammondCare’s residential homes, there are many instances where we can provide very good person-centred and holistic care without the need of specialist palliative care services.
“But it’s good to collaborate with those services when symptom management is complicated.”
Two key resources are available from HammondCare for those looking to learn more about palliative care.
For other helpful ideas, check out these HammondCare links: