Palliative care helps people with serious illness feel better. It treats symptoms and side effects of any life-threatening illness. Palliative care also treats emotional, social, psychological and spiritual problems that illness can bring up. It can be given at the same time as treatments meant to cure or treat the disease. Palliative care may be given when the illness is diagnosed, throughout treatment, during follow-up and at the end of life for illnesses like cancer, COPD, heart disease, kidney disease etc.

A multidisciplinary team consisting of medical & paramedical staff who are specialized in Palliative care. The team consists of
Doctors
Nurses
Dieticians
Social workers
Psychologists
Physiotherapist
Pain Specialist

A serious illness affects more than just the body. It touches all areas of a person’s life as well as lives of the patient’s family members. Palliative care can address these effects of a person’s illness namely physical problems as well as emotional problems
Physical problems experienced: Pain, trouble sleeping, shortness of breath, loss of appetite etc.
Treatments may include:
Medicine
Nutritional guidance
Pain Management
Physiotherapy
Coping with emotional & social problems. Patients and their families face a lot of stress during illness that can lead to fear, anxiety, hopelessness, or depression.
Treatments may include:
Counselling
Support groups
Family meetings

Patients and family caregivers are the special focus of palliative care. The treating team benefits too, because they know they are meeting your needs by providing care and treatment that reduces your suffering and improves your QoL (Quality of Life).

Palliative care can be provided wherever a patient is. It can be given in hospital, residence, nursing homes etc.

Quality of Life (QoL) is the mainstay of palliative care for those diagnosed with a life limiting illness. The focus is on comfort and respite care. Even in situations where a cure is no longer an option, palliative care helps shift the focus to new goals – It means choosing to live life to the fullest. In palliative care, you have access to health care professionals with expertise in pain management, symptom management and medications that can alleviate discomfort.

Curative care aggressively aims to eliminate medical issues and promote recovery with minimum focus on minimizing their impact. Palliative care does not aim to cure or improve symptoms of the illness in order to prolong life. Palliative care focuses on increasing the patient’s comfort through minimization of pain or other illness-related issues.

Your primary physician continues to be involved with your care in case of emergencies to provide first aid in situations where intervention by our team will be called for immediate arrangements for appropriate care will be provided. Supportive care is emphasized by the palliative care staff at home, while more interventions will be provided at our hospital according to the individual need of the patient. The palliative care team makes home visits on a regularly scheduled basis determined by patient need. The palliative care physician visits the patient at home initially and then as medically appropriate. Additional services including physiotherapy, occupational therapy, speech therapy, stoma care and diet therapy may be provided as indicated.

The caregiver may face several difficult situations. Patients and caregivers will be provided with a mobile phone number. This number will put the caregiver in touch with a palliative care team who will assist over the phone or arrange for a home visit or inpatient care as necessary.

Choosing palliative care is a very personal decision. After talking with the primary care physician, the patient should discuss the decision with his or her family and get their support whenever possible. Ideally palliative care should be started when the patient begins to show distress symptoms due to the disease progression even though he/she is receiving the possible curative care.