This is a word that you may hear on your initial training course and it may leave you with some questions about when it would start and what your role would be if you were to go to a client who needs it.

The definition

Palliative care is the treatment and care, along with support that someone receives when they have a life-limiting illness. The care includes family and friends and is often referred to as ‘supportive care.’ The type of care given focuses chiefly on ensuring that the person is pain free and finds relief from the symptoms of the illness.

To goal of palliative care

The goal is to improve the quality of life. This includes both the patient and their family. Palliative care sets out to give the person the best quality of life, being as active as they can, and as well as they can in what time they have left.

A myth about palliative care

A person can receive palliative care at any stage of an illness, not necessarily at the very end of their life. Some people can receive palliative care for years. They can also receive it during and after therapies such as chemotherapy and radiotherapy.

Palliative care aims to:

• Manage the symptoms of the disease such as pain and discomfort
• Manage the emotional support, including spiritual and psychological needs
• Include social care such as helping with dressing, washing or eating
• Support the patient, their family and friends

What’s a life-limiting illness?

This is an illness that cannot be cured and one that you may die from. You might also hear it called a ‘terminal illness.’ Other phrases to do with the illness are ‘progressive’ (as the disease gets worse) and advanced (at a serious stage).

Cancer is a life-limiting disease, as are Dementia, COPD, congestive heart failure, Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s among others.

Who is involved with palliative care?

If you find yourself with a client who is receiving palliative care, you can expect other people to be involved in the care. There are several people who will become a part of the daily routine as you care for your client.

• The GP
• The district nurse/community nurse
• Spiritual workers such as ministers or priests depending on the religion
• Social workers
• Care workers (this includes you and any other care workers who may come in to help you)

Sometimes you may find that there are Specialist care professionals involved in the care of your client.

These are experts in the illness that your client has, and they are there to provide help and provide information about the more complex situations.

These include:

• Councillors
• Dieticians
• Occupational therapists
• Nurse specialists
• Palliative care doctors
• Physiotherapists

Palliative care can be carried out in several places such as care homes, nursing homes, hospitals and hospices. It can also be carried out in the home, which is where you would normally find yourself with your client.

To sum up

While you may think that only people who are at the end of life can receive palliative care, often there are people who receive this care for several years before they pass away.

It is almost impossible to say when palliative care will start, and as your career progresses along the live-in care path, you will eventually find yourself in a placement where your client in the palliative care stage.

This is not something to be feared because at this time you have more support than you realise. It is important to keep communications open between all the other people who are involved with this stage.

The goal of palliative care, then is to make the time remaining as pain free and pleasant as possible.

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