2.5.1 Overview
In this chapter, you will learn the basics in care considerations in palliative and hospice care. Like caring for patients with dementia, palliative and hospice care is a particularly challenging area of health care, entangled as it is with the hard realities of grief, loss, death and dying. Palliative and hospice care represents a shift away from curative care towards promoting quality of life for as long as possible, but with the understanding that the battle may eventually be lost. In this context, promoting dignity is even more important, and simultaneously more difficult.
Learning Objectives
At the end of this module, you will be able to:
- Describe the stages, phases or tasks clients, families, and caregivers may encounter when dealing with grief.
- Explain how to help meet a dying client’s needs.
- Discuss the challenges of Palliative Care and Hospice Care
- Describe the signs of approaching death and the signs of death.
Key Terms
When learning about the essentials of caring for clients, it is essential to first look at the terminology to ensure that you understand everything clearly. These terms will be used throughout this chapter, so it is important to take the time to master them and practice your recall often.
- Palliative Care
- Hospice Care
- Kübler-Ross Model
- Medical Assistance in Dying (MAID)
Whenever these terms are first introduced in this chapter, they are bolded. However, if you need additional information about a term than what is provided here, you can research it in The Free Dictionary: Medical Dictionary.
