Palliative Care - A Holistic Approach
- January 2005
- Français
The concept of dying with dignity has taken on more importance over the last few years, as our society ages and medical advancements provide more options to control pain when cancer or other diseases take firm hold. Health care professionals the world over deliver what is called Palliative Care for this end stage of life. According to the World Health Organization "palliative care emphasizes relief from pain and other distressing symptoms, integrates the physical, psychological and spiritual aspects of patient care, offers a support system to help the patient live as actively as possible until death and a support system to help the family cope during the patient's illness and in bereavement".
In Niagara, palliative care delivered by hospitals varies from community to community. Greater Niagara General Hospital Site in Niagara Falls and nearby Welland Hospital Site use a 'scattered bed approach', which means that while there are no dedicated palliative beds at those two hospitals, there are palliative care staff nurses who come to the bedside to fulfill the physical and psycho-social needs of patients and their families. These hospitals combined have the strength of more than 100 specially-trained volunteers behind them who take the program one step further, by leading bereavement counselling groups, support groups, providing video, tape and book resources, and offering respite care relief for family members, while their loved ones are in hospital.
At St. Catharines General Site, an 11-bed inpatient unit is in operation. "It is important to note that this is an acute care unit, not a chronic unit," says Interim Manager Bernie McCormack. "We are providing care related to acute pain and symptom management. Patients come to our unit to get specialist care and we work on a plan to stabilize and hopefully to discharge them home within a week.” Dr Brian Kerley is the Director of the Palliative Care Unit and was honored with the George Stauffer Award for his work in Palliative Care.
The main advantage to having palliative care delivered in a hospital is the ready access to a multi-disciplinary team of physiotherapists, occupational therapists, social workers, diagnostic/lab/pharmacy staff, dietitians, and many other allied health specialties. "We really do take a holistic approach to patient and family care," says Bernie. At Niagara Health System hospitals, the palliative care staff members work with the patient, his or her family, clinical staff and physicians to develop a care plan for the patient.
An often overlooked fact is that pain comes from the psychological as well as the physical parts of the body. By using psycho-social skills, staff members help patients to find out what they need, not only with medication, but also with counselling, family support or medical information. Often, just taking the time to listen can be a great help to patients and family members.
"Our patients and families appreciate anything we can do for them," Susan Berry, Palliative Care Co-ordinator at Greater Niagara General Site says. At no time is that more strongly felt than at the memorial service which has become an annual event for Niagara Falls staff and families. "We had 160 people attend our recent service, and while it was very sad, it was also healing for staff as well as family members."
A comparatively new program for the Niagara Falls hospital is an adult children support group. This group, led by staff and volunteers, is a bereavement group to help those age 18 and up who have recently lost a parent. "We discovered that while we had supports in place for those who have lost a spouse, there wasn't anything in place for the adult who has lost his or her parent," Susan says. "No matter how old you are, when your parent dies, you are a child and it hurts."
Last year, through the NHS's three programs, more than 720 referrals came through our doors, seeking palliative care. The hospitals also work with other local community groups such as Hospice Niagara, Wellspring Niagara, Bereavement Ontario Network and the Regional Palliative Pain and Symptom Management Service, who provide a wide range of services for patients and their loved ones.
For more information about Palliative Care on the Niagara Health System website, click on our Sites and Services section.