Why Do Doctors Recommend Palliative Care?
Palliative care is just one of many healthcare services the healthcare industry provides in Australia. Often, palliative care is essential under certain conditions, and there are occasions when doctors will recommend palliative care.
Read on to discover more about palliative care, when and why it is recommended and how individuals can receive palliative care services.
Table of Contents
- What Is Palliative Care Exactly?
- It’s Determined That the Individual Requires Specialised Care
- A Person Is Diagnosed With a Life-Limiting Condition
- To Provide a Better Quality Of Life
- The Benefits Of In-Home Palliative Care
- The Takeaway
What Is Palliative Care Exactly?
While palliative care can be recommended in other instances, such as administering care to people with curable diseases, it’s most commonly a type of specialised care that’s administered to individuals living with terminal illnesses such as stage 4 cancer, heart failure, Alzheimer’s and more.
When a patient has been diagnosed with a life-limiting condition, palliative care becomes an integral part of the care and treatment regime.
Not only does the individual receive the medical care their condition requires, such as managing pain and symptoms, but palliative care is also about making people more comfortable and ensuring the best quality of life possible under the circumstances.
The best way to receive palliative care is at home. For this the first step is getting a referral from a doctor to an approved palliative care facility. Once a person has been referred, the palliative care provider will assess the individual’s healthcare requirements and then tailor a palliative care program based on that and the wishes of the person concerned.
So why do doctors often recommend palliative care for certain patients?
- The Individual Requires Specialised Care
One of the most common reasons a doctor will recommend palliative care is when they’ve decided that it’s in the person’s best interest to receive dedicated care to manage their illness or condition.
As previously mentioned, palliative care is a specialised form of healthcare. Patients living with both curable and terminal diseases will type of care for recovery.
Sydney Home Nursingproviders are professionals specially trained to deal with the needs of people who require a more specialised kind of care package.
- A Person Is Diagnosed With a Life-Limiting Condition
Virtually all individuals diagnosed with a terminal illness or condition will be recommended for palliative care services. Special care and attention need to be provided for individuals who find themselves in these circumstances, including assistance and support for loved ones and family members.
Learning the news that you have a life-limiting illness is extremely stressful and traumatising for everyone concerned, and palliative care services offer the best treatment and care approach in these circumstances.
- To Provide a Better Quality Of Life
One of the main goals of palliative care is to ensure that the needs of the individual enjoy a better quality of life. One way this is achieved is by providing the dedicated care required to manage the condition.
Doctors consider things like the client’s quality of life when recommending palliative care because it offer services, advice, information, referral and support. Trained end of life and palliative care providers can offer emotional and practical support to families, friends and carers.
Additionally palliative care nurses will administer any necessary healthcare required, provide comfort and support and take care of the day-to-day needs of the individual. This may include preparing meals, feeding, bathing, running errands and even doing the housework.
The Benefits Of In-Home Palliative Care
Rather than receiving palliative care in a hospital or hospice, some patients can have their palliative care administered at home with services provided by in-home palliative care professionals.
There are several benefits to in-house care, the most primary reason is that individuals will be a lot more comfortable surrounded by familiar things and allow the individual to spend more time with family, friends and their pets.
At it’s core in-home palliative care is usually personalised to the individual’s needs and desires. It’s all about gaining a full understanding of the needs of the client and their family first. This leads to a much-improved quality of life for the client and everyone close to them.
The Takeaway
People living with curable and terminal illnesses will often be referred to palliative care by their doctor. For the ultimate in palliative care services, in-home care offers the best circumstances and a higher quality of life.
