The novel corona virus disease pandemic (COVID-19) has led to a lot of lifestyle changes and significant distress among individuals. Most of the elderly population with various co-morbidities are at an advanced risk of contracting this disease with an increased risk of dying. Not many of them with severe illness will be eligible for aggressive intensive treatment. This will call for supportive treatment. Palliative care is the best option for people of this age group.
Patients with COVID-19 and their families tend to experience a lot of distress from the time of diagnosis, especially during quarantine/isolation, when the patient becomes symptomatic, or when the illness worsens and finally leads to death. The psychological distress mostly starts immediately or can develop later. In such cases the mental state of the patients continues beyond the pandemic period leading to long term or short-term psychiatric issues. Patient/ families seeking palliative care in this situation are likely to be in extreme distress. In such cases effectively assessing and managing distress is an important part of palliative care service provision.