According to the World Health Organization (WHO), palliative care is a set of care, for the person suffering from a serious or incurable disease, but also for their family, in order to alleviate their suffering, to improve their quality. of life.
The types of care that may be involved are:
- All this care cannot be provided only by the doctor.
- There must be a team of doctors.
- Nurses.
- Psychologists.
- Social workers and various other professionals such as physiotherapists.
- Occupational therapists.
- Nutritionists and a chaplain or other spiritual representative.
In Brazil, many hospitals already offer palliative care, especially those with oncology services, however, this type of care should ideally be available in general, outpatient and even home hospitals.
Palliative care is indicated for all people with a life-threatening disease that gets worse over time and is also known as a terminal illness.
Therefore, it is not true that this care is performed when “there is nothing more to do” because essential care can still be provided for the well-being and quality of life of the person, regardless of their life span.
Here are some examples of situations where palliative care is applied, whether for adults, the elderly, or children:
Palliative care is also used to care for and support the loved ones of people who suffer from these diseases, providing support for care, resolution of social difficulties and better grief, such as situations such as caring for someone or facing the possibility of losing a being Dear. it is difficult and can cause a lot of suffering for family members.
While euthanasia proposes to anticipate death, palliative care does not support this practice, which is illegal in Brazil, however, they do not want to postpone death either, but they propose to allow the incurable disease to follow its natural path, and for this it offers all the support for all suffering to be avoided and treated, generating a final life with dignity. Understand the differences between euthanasia, orthotanasis and dystanasis.
Thus, although palliative care does not approve of euthanasia, they do not promote the practice of treatments considered useless, that is, those that have as their sole objective to prolong the life of the person, but that will not cure it, causing pain and invasion. .
Palliative care is indicated by the doctor, however, to ensure that they are performed when the time comes, it is important to talk to the medical team that accompanies the patient and show interest in this type of care, so clear and frank communication between the patient, the family and doctors about the diagnosis and treatment options of any disease is very important to define these problems.
There are ways to document these wills, through documents called “preliminary will directives,” that allow the person to inform their doctor about the medical care they want or do not wish to receive if, for any reason, they cannot express their wishes regarding treatment.
Thus, the Federal Council of Medicine informs that the registration of the preliminary directive of will may be made by the doctor accompanying the patient, in his medical file or in the medical file, provided that it is expressly authorized, without the need for witnesses or signatures. As a doctor, by profession, he has public faith and his actions have legal and legal effect.
It is also possible to draft and register before a notary public a document, called Living Will, in which the person can declare these wishes, specifying, for example, the desire not to be subjected to procedures such as the use of breathing apparatus, feeding tube or passage . cardiopulmonary resuscitation, for example. In this document, it is also possible to instruct a trusted person to make decisions about the direction of treatment when they can no longer make their decisions.