Palliative care helps life quality

By Christine Harlander

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The number of adults over age 85 is expected to double to 10 million by 2030. The average 75-year-old has three chronic conditions and uses five prescription medications and several over-the-counter drugs.

November is Palliative Care Awareness Month, a chance for us to become more aware of what palliative care is and the difference it can make in supporting and comforting those living with serious or chronic illness.

Palliative care is specialized care for those experiencing a serious illness or accident, or those with a chronic or life-limiting illness. The goal is to relieve pain, symptoms and stress to achieve the best quality of life possible.

Mercy Medical Center's Palliative Care team provides compassionate, physical, spiritual and emotional care, focusing on the needs and goals of the patient and their family, while also partnering with each patient's physician and other members of the health care team. Our palliative team is made up of certified, palliative care physicians; specialized nurses; social workers; chaplains; pharmacists; massage therapists and other health care professionals.

Mercy recently expanded its program to the outpatient setting, offering palliative care to patients in their home, clinic setting, nursing facility or wherever they call home.

Palliative care is not hospice, although it focuses on “whole person,” patient-centered care. Hospice serves the dying patient when curative treatment is no longer desired or effective, whereas palliative care serves patients of any age, at any stage of any illness and can be provided together with other treatments or even cure. Palliative care patients do not have to forgo curative care.

Patients with serious or chronic illness are often treated by multiple physicians, which requires ongoing communication. Palliative care team members also can provide an extra layer of support. They offer guidance for patients and families facing difficult decisions who wish to explore all their options.

A palliative care referral would be appropriate for anyone experiencing serious illness or one or more of the following difficulties:

l Pain, trouble breathing, nausea or other distressing symptoms.

l Frequent emergency room visits and/or frequent hospitalizations.

l Serious illness and facing questions about the future.

l Needing to clarify treatment decisions or goals of care.

l Needing emotional and spiritual support.

For more information, contact the Mercy Palliative Care team at (319) 398-6860.

Christine Harlander is Palliative Care Supervisor for Mercy Medical Center in Cedar Rapids. Comments: charlander@mercycare.org