What Is Palliative Care and When Will It Be Offered?
Palliative care is a specialist type of care designed to optimise the quality of life and reduce or, where possible, mitigate the suffering of those with long-term or terminal disorders. Many providers, including Midlands Care facilities, offer this supplementary type of care to add an extra layer of support and reassurance to other care types.
Palliative care can be offered to people of any age with a wide variety of illnesses. These may include, but are certainly not limited to, cancer, Heart Disease, Parkinson’s Disease, Dementia, and Cystic Fibrosis. It will aim to reduce and improve symptoms such as nausea, anxiety, fatigue, insomnia, and beyond, allowing people to continue to live a fulfilling life that is not limited by their illness.
The Five Stages of Palliative Care
1. Stable
Creating a bespoke care plan
Creating a bespoke and person-centred care plan is so important for every care type. This is the first of the five stages and often happens following diagnosis. It involves sitting down with all relevant professionals to formulate a roadmap for your ailments and how you may treat them as they progress. It is designed to cover all possible eventualities and offer a reassuring strategy for things such as your desires and wishes for decision-making purposes, medication preferences, and the anticipated evolution of your illness.
2. Unstable
Giving emotional, spiritual and psychological support
This stage is designed to monitor your progression and give you ongoing reassurance. Your care team will review your plan and ensure that it is still relevant to you and your condition. Support is offered to you and all of those close to you to help you come to terms with your situation and what this means. Therapists, counsellors, and other support staff will help at this stage.
3. Deteriorating
Enacting the care plan
As your condition worsens, your palliative care team will step in to assist you where needed. They will consult your plan and offer you any assistance, treatment, or medication that is required to make your life easier. At this stage, your condition is likely at its worst, and sadly, in many cases, people are given a timeline left to live. This can, of course, be a very stressful time for everyone involved, so your care team will do all that they can to help with this.
4. Terminal
Transitioning to end-of-life care
At this point, you will be at the end of your life and looking to experience your last days in the most comfortable and dignified way possible. This will include extensive medical and physical care as well as an emphasis on emotional and spiritual well-being. Whatever you and your loved ones wish, your team is here to ensure that whatever happens, you will not be alone.
5. Bereavement
Supporting family and loved ones
This last stage is for your loved ones to support them with their grief once you are gone. A death can take a huge toll on a family, and the care plan will shift to assist in navigating this. The team will offer a range of services to support everyone, as well as be by their side as they enact all of your wishes and honour your memory. This stage can last for a little or as long as needed.