What To Expect With Palliative Care
Palliative care helps people with life-limiting illness(es) manage their pain and improve their quality of life.
Understanding Palliative Care And What It Means For You
Palliative care is a medical approach focused on reducing a patient's symptoms while supporting them and their caregivers in any number of ways to improve their quality of life.
In Canada, palliative care typically refers to a type of care that patients receive after being diagnosed with life-limiting illnesses; as such, it is usually thought of as the same as hospice care. Palliative care can be used in a variety of contexts; curative treatments can and are often used in conjunction with palliative treatments.
What Palliative Care Actually Involves
Symptom management and social support both play crucial roles in palliative care. A person receiving palliative care might get help with activities of daily living from a support worker, IV medications from a nurse practitioner, and spiritual counsel from a chaplain - all in the same day, or at different points in their palliative care.
Types Of Support & Services Provided
Palliative care is multifaceted - it aims to provide total pain relief, helping patients with their physical, emotional, social, and spiritual needs. No two people have the same palliative care experience because no two people have the same pains or needs and goals. Palliative treatments are patient-centred, and may feature a multidisciplinary palliative care team, including:
- Doctors
- Nurses and nurse practitioners
- Therapists
- Social workers
- Spiritual advisors
- Family members
- Community members
- Support workers
Palliative care specialists may use medication and pain relief therapies like massage and acupuncture to help relieve physical pain. A variety of other techniques are used to help reduce stress and improve quality of life; these techniques range from therapy with mental health professionals to support workers who help with activities of daily living.
Communal and spiritual support can both play vital roles in palliative care. The exact nature of that support - and all supports offered through palliative care - depend on the individuals receiving the care. Palliative care is incredibly patient-focused; improving the patient's quality of life and the quality of life of their caregivers are the primary goals.
When Palliative Care Becomes Appropriate
Patients typically receive palliative care after being diagnosed with a serious illness. Your health care team can help you determine whether or not palliative care is right for you.
The Day-To-Day Experience Of Receiving Palliative Care
Palliative care providers vary in their approaches, and each patient will receive a different kind of palliative care; no two people's day-to-day lives will look exactly the same. On a given day, a person receiving palliative care might:
- Talk to a social worker about care options and resources
- Be given pain relief medication by a nurse practitioner
- Discuss their health with a doctor
- Pray with a spiritual advisor
- Work with an acupuncturist, massage therapist, or aromatherapist
- Visit with friends and family
- Be given a bath by a support worker
Palliative care services can be received at home; they are not exclusively available in hospitals, hospice centres, or long-term care facilities.
Common Concerns And Questions About Palliative Care
Does palliative care mean that other healthcare treatments will stop?
Palliative care does not mean that doctors will stop trying to cure an illness or extend a person's lifespan; it is a type of specialized medical care that focuses on improving quality of life that can be used alongside curative medicine. Some patients receiving palliative care may decline future curative treatments, but not all do.
Do I have to choose between palliative care and MAID?
No, a person who is seeking medical assistance in dying can begin receiving and continue to receive palliative care, and a person receiving palliative care can talk to their health care provider about medical assistance in dying at any point.
Moving Forward With Confidence In Your Care Journey
Palliative medicine may be available to you; you can access it in Winnipeg by becoming a part of the Winnipeg Regional Health Authority (WRHA) Palliative Care Program. The team at Right at Home can answer questions you might have about the WRHA Palliative Care Program and how we can help provide palliative care at home.
Why Right at Home?
- Over 20 years of experience. Right at Home has been providing award winning customized senior care and home care for over 20 years.
- YOUR Caregivers are all part of YOUR Care Team. This means that there is no revolving door of Personal Support Workers and Nurses. With the help of your Care Planner, you choose and get to know them. This leads to an level of care for your loved one that is unsurpassed in our industry.
- Working with government support. Your Care Planner will work to help you find the government supports you are eligible for (if you would like them) and then work to find a solution for the care needs that go above what government and family can do. We will also work around the government care plan so that we are enhancing it.
We help in home, wherever home is to you.
Our Caregivers are always out in the community visiting homes, Retirement Residences, Long Term Care (LTC), hospices and hospitals.
