Question

What is hospice care?

What is palliative care?

Provide two examples of diseases (conditions) that will beneficiate of hospice care

Answer 1

Answer :

1. Hospice care :

Hospice care is the supportive care that is provided to people in the final stage of some terminal illness, which aim on comfort and quality of life rather than cure. Goal of this care is make the patients comfortable and free of pain. In hospice care symptamatic treatment can provide. Because patients does not responds to main treatments of illness.

Hospice is provided for a person with terminal illness whose Doctor belive he or she is 6 month or less to live with the illness continues its natural course. Hospice care can been provided at home, nursing home, hospital , or in a separate hospice center. This consist of nurses, doctors, social workers, spiritual advicers, trained volunteers. A member of this team visit the person regulerly and some member will be available by phone 24 hours per day, 7 days a week. This care can be coverd by some insurance companies.

There are four levels of hospice care :

• Routine home care
• continues home care
• general inpatient care
• respite care

2. Palliative care :

Palliative care is an approach to improve the quality of life of patients with life-threatening illness and their families, by prevention and relief of suffering through early identification and treatments. It provides relief from pain and other distrussing symptoms. Palliative can be provided along with curative treatment and does not depend on prognosis. Palliative care team consist of palliative care specialist doctors, nurses, nutrionists, social workers. This can be provided in hospitals, home, nursing home, outpatient palliative care clinics ect. Palliative care can be provided along with curative treatment and can start at the time of diagnosis.

If the palliative team believes the current treatment is no longer helping, there are two possibilities like either converted to hospice care or continue to help with increasing emphasis on comfort. This can also be covered with insurance policy like medicare. example for disease with palliative care includes cancer, parkinson's disease, dementia, COPD (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease) ect.

Five principles of palliative care :

• Provides relief from pain and other distressing symptoms
• Affirms life and regards dying as a normal process
• Intends neither to hasten or postpone death
• Integrates the psychological and spiritual aspects of patient care
• Offers a support system to help patients live as actively as possible until death

3. Terminal stage of cancer , chronic haert disease, chronic kidney disease (end stage renal failure), dementia are some of the examples for hospice care.