Dr Suversha Khanna, Director, Dharamshila Rahat Supportive and Palliative Care Centre stresses on the role of palliative care in addressing not only physical symptoms but also emotional, psychosocial, and spiritual concerns
Suffering from a serious, chronic & life-limiting condition, can be troublesome and depressive at the same time. In such situations, the patient needs abundant care and attention for pain relief. Palliative care centres focus on addressing not only physical symptoms but also emotional, psychosocial, and spiritual concerns and other distressing symptoms. Of course, all these patients facing serious diseases are provided medical care in mainstream hospitals but does it always serve the purpose? Are these hospitals improving the quality of life of these vulnerable patients? Due to a shortage of palliative care specialists, and poor awareness about palliative care, most mainstream hospitals do not have the desired infrastructure required for providing holistic palliative care and therefore the quality of life gets compromised.
Understanding palliative care at dedicated centres
Dedicated palliative care centres, start the desired management, in the early course of the disease, by a multidisciplinary team i.e. pain & palliative care specialists, psychologists, psychiatrists, de addiction specialists, physiotherapists, trained palliative care nurses, and social workers. Spiritual teachers are also available to ensure holistic care and healing from life-threatening diseases. The journey of a patient here begins by relieving distressing physical symptoms and emotional, psychological, spiritual, and social issues faced by the patients and their loved ones. Keeping in mind the cultural and religious beliefs of the people, all needs of the patients are fulfilled, at the palliative care centres. Most of these patients when stuck with a chronic serious condition have very few requirements in life. All they want is a symptom-free, comfortable life and to become as self-sufficient as possible without being a burden on the family. At a dedicated palliative care centre, the focus shifts from diseases to the patient and family and from curing to healing.
Differences faced at mainstream hospitals
Mainstream hospitals are flooded with worrying patients and it creates a scary, disturbing and depressing environment. A patient fighting with a serious condition will be much more anxious in such a situation and loses hope for any optimistic outcome. Specialists/Superspecialists are reluctant to involve palliative care specialists, therefore, this is an injustice to the patients and their families.
Their main focus is on controlling the diseases which might add to side effects and complications related to medications, ICU, ventilators and financial losses. The family of the patient is not counselled about the need for dedicated palliative care. Therefore, patients and their families are deprived of much-needed emotional, psychosocial and spiritual counselling, preparing them for bereavement and providing respite care. Loved ones can only visit during visiting hours. In fatal conditions, there is no loved one around the patients and they pass away in sad situations alone.
Conclusion
Palliative care is the perfect option to improve the quality of life of patients and their families, fighting serious, chronic and life-threatening diseases. The environment at a palliative care centre is very positive, vibrant, peaceful, compassionate and loving. They have a holistic approach to treating the patient and addressing all issues of the patients and their families. This ensures improved quality of life by making them symptoms free, comfortable, and self-reliant so that they can live with dignity for months to years to decades.
Family members are allowed to visit at any time of the day and the best part of a dedicated palliative care centre is that it includes a lot of mindful activities like meditation, yoga, music therapy, and sun therapy. Bereavement counselling of the family is also done. The dignity of life as well as the dignity of dying is maintained. A mainstream hospital focuses on the disease and skips other parts of treatment that very much deal with maintaining the mental, spiritual, and emotional needs of the patients and family.