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Palliative care (from Latin root palliare "to cloak") is an interdisciplinary medical caregiving approach aimed at optimising quality of life and mitigating or reducing suffering among people with serious, complex, and often terminal illnesses. [1] Many definitions of palliative care exist. The World Health Organization (WHO) describes ...
WHPCA is an implementing NGO affiliated with the World Health Organization (WHO) promoting change in public policies for hospice and palliative care on a global, national, and regional scale. [1] The organization has also been recognized as having official relations with the United Nations Economic and Social Council. [6]
Palliative care got its start as hospice care delivered largely by caregivers at religious institutions. The first formal hospice was founded in 1948 by the British physician Dame Cicely Saunders in order to care for patients with terminal illnesses. [2] She defined key physical, emotional, social, and spiritual dimensions of distress in her work.
According to the World Health Organization, "palliative care is an approach that improves the quality of life of patients and their families facing the problem associated with life-threatening illness, involving the 'treatment of pain and other problems, physical, psychosocial and spiritual.'" [7]
Hospice care is a type of health care that focuses on the palliation of a terminally ill patient's pain and symptoms and attending to their emotional and spiritual needs at the end of life. Hospice care prioritizes comfort and quality of life by reducing pain and suffering.
However, needs for palliative care are often unmet whether due to lack of government support and also possible stigma associated with palliative care. For these reasons, the World Health Assembly recommends development of palliative care in health care systems. [1] Palliative care and hospice care are often confused, and they have similar goals ...
Data from the National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization indicated that in 2008 58.3% of hospice agencies were independent, with 20.8% based in hospitals, 19.7% geared for home health care and 1.3% in conjunction with nursing homes. [57] In 2007, the mean number of patients being treated in hospice facilities on any given day was 90.2.
Relational care with older people, which has evolved from person-centred care, considers the wellbeing and quality of life of everyone involved in a person's care, encompassing the older person, professionals, and communities within and beyond care settings. [22] Health activation is a condition where a health care consumer is equipped ...