tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14743001.post6551861860021892375..comments2024-01-02T02:45:17.328-06:00Comments on Notes from Dr. RW: Maybe I could get excited about palliative careRobert W Donnellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16944231400440786271noreply@blogger.comBlogger8125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14743001.post-82905705737040994032009-01-27T20:53:00.000-06:002009-01-27T20:53:00.000-06:00Dr. RW:I also struggle with "explaining" palliativ...Dr. RW:<BR/>I also struggle with "explaining" palliative care to the patients and families I care for as a Palliative Care CNS in Texas. Currently, because I am essentially the only staff member of the team (along with my supervising physicians - although I see the bulk of the patients), right now our Palliative Care Team IS essentially End-of-Life Care. However, I and the other members of the Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14743001.post-82060946568683194952008-12-12T15:53:00.000-06:002008-12-12T15:53:00.000-06:00Maybe we need some help clarifying this to you.www...Maybe we need some help clarifying this to you.<BR/>www.getpalliativecare.org<BR/>has a pretty comprehensive definition of what we do. The underlying premise is that the patient has a "life-limiting" disease (what used to be referred to as a terminal disease), but that unlike hospice, there is a role for palliative care early on in the disease course, mostly for symptom management and Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14743001.post-83722386750794617702008-12-12T08:57:00.000-06:002008-12-12T08:57:00.000-06:00Anonymous 2:25pm---Your definition describes nothi...Anonymous 2:25pm---<BR/>Your definition describes nothing more than excellent medical care---what we all should be doing---so I don't know what to call it either, other than excellent medical care. That was one of the points of my post.Robert W Donnellhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16944231400440786271noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14743001.post-21625472038615050192008-12-11T14:25:00.000-06:002008-12-11T14:25:00.000-06:00Dr RW: I'm not sure what else you would call what ...Dr RW: I'm not sure what else you would call what most of us already know as and come to understand as palliative care. What do you think would be more meaningful? Where I work, hospital staff already associate "palliative care" with care that is patient-centered, humane, focused on relieving suffering and improving quality of life, not just for the patient but also for the family. As far as Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14743001.post-86430599176012006332008-12-10T21:21:00.000-06:002008-12-10T21:21:00.000-06:00I agree that this is something all doctors/teams s...I agree that this is something all doctors/teams should be doing, but frankly they're not. Look around, and look at the data: patients with advanced illness have poorly controlled symptoms, spend a couple weeks in hospice prior to death if they're lucky enough to die at home, and should be well informed about their prognosis and options but they aren't. Overwhelmingly aren't, at least until Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14743001.post-44030708905406131452008-12-09T10:05:00.000-06:002008-12-09T10:05:00.000-06:00We in palliative care agree that our services prov...We in palliative care agree that our services provide care that, in a generic form, is what all medicine strives for: compassion, excellent prognostic acumen, expertise in pain and symptom management, and individualizing goals throught intimate and difficult conversations with patients and families. Medical providers do all of these things, with greater or lesser skills. Some of these skills are Risa Denenberghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09157041687549002339noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14743001.post-28461898512497390872008-12-09T08:58:00.000-06:002008-12-09T08:58:00.000-06:00agree with your take.Palliative care is a movement...agree with your take.<BR/><BR/>Palliative care is a movement in response to the dysfunction in our health care delivery. If primary docs and hospital docs had adequate time to address the needs of the patient (and spending that time was modeled by mentors who actually had such time) then there would be little need for palliative care teams. <BR/><BR/>But when the clinic docs are on the 15 Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14743001.post-52788881762816498052008-12-09T01:12:00.000-06:002008-12-09T01:12:00.000-06:00You make some good points about the variable defin...You make some good points about the variable definitions about what palliative care is. First off the word 'palliative' (or variations thereof) tend to catch people's tongues and there are not many related words in the English language to draw inferences from.<BR/><BR/>Ideally, palliative care is about symptom control with a whole person approach that includes the <A HREF="http://Christian Sinclairhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14685043408496367587noreply@blogger.com