Provide palliative care
Palliative care at its heart needs to be person-centred care. The aim is to help improve quality of life. After needs have been assessed, a care plan is developed with the older person (and their family) and the multidisciplinary team. Think about referring to specialist palliative care services if symptoms are severe or expected to be, or if their needs are hard to manage.
Things to consider
You need to plan and provide palliative care that takes into account:
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Comfort and dignity
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Holistic needs
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Response to changes
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Access to equipment and medicines
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Preferences
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Access to specialist care
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Care environment
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Communication and support
The person's comfort and dignity needs to be prioritised.
Their spiritual, cultural and psychosocial needs should be supported.
Changes in pain and symptoms need to be identified and managed appropriately.
The person should have access to necessary equipment and medicines to manage pain and symptoms.
What the person wants and where they would like to receive care needs to be considered. This should be communicated to family, carers, workers and others.
Access to specialist palliative care and end of life care when needed should be enabled.
Palliative care should be provided in a suitable place.
Families and carers should be given information about:
- what happens when a person is dying, as well as
- bereavement and loss.