KOCHI: “Doctor, please do something, or I will stab myself with a knife.” These heartbreaking words were uttered by a cancer patient who came to the hospital with her abdomen filled with fluid, consumed by unbearable pain. Unfortunately, such scenarios are not uncommon. Patients often arrive at healthcare facilities in extreme distress, with their physical and emotional suffering reaching a breaking point.
This is where palliative care comes into play. Pain is one of the most common reasons for a palliative care referral. However, many people mistakenly believe that palliative care is only for those nearing death. In fact, palliative care providers are speciality-trained consultants who work with your primary team to help manage your symptoms and quality of life.
Why start early?
While treatments aim to control or cure the disease, palliative care helps patients live meaningfully and with dignity. This involves maintaining emotional well-being, nurturing relationships, and finding purpose despite the illness.
A holistic approach
Physical support: A key focus of palliative care is managing cancer-related symptoms to improve quality of life. This includes pain management through medications or through dietary changes, gentle exercise, breathing exercises, etc.
Psychological support: Emotional and psychological well-being is crucial during the cancer journey. Patients may experience anxiety, depression, stress, as well as fear and grief, emotions that can impact both the patient and their loved ones. Palliative care teams recognise this and offer vital emotional and psychological support.
Social and financial support: Cancer treatment often brings financial strain, but palliative care can help. They offer guidance on financial aid, insurance, and government programmes, assist with arranging home care, caregivers, and transportation, and provide counselling to support families.
Existential support: A cancer diagnosis can raise profound existential questions. Palliative care recognises this and offers support through spiritual counselling, mindfulness practices like meditation and meaningful discussions.
A family-centered approach: One of the biggest barriers to accessing palliative care is the stigma surrounding it. Many equate it with giving up on life, but in reality, palliative care is about reclaiming life. Communities play a crucial role in this journey. Patient support groups, and networks of friends and family remind the patients that they are not alone in their struggles.
In addition to addressing the needs of the patient, paliative facilities also pay attention to the needs of families and caregivers, who often bear the emotional and physical toll of caring for a loved one.
How to get started
Many hospitals offer palliative care services for patients and caregivers. Many home-based palliative care services are also available.
The author is a senior consultant at Pain & Palliative Medicine in Aster Medcity, Kochi