Palliative Care - Services
The palliative care consultation service, while working with other professionals involved in the patient’s care, can provide support to the patient, patient’s family and attending physician concerning the following issues:
- Inpatient consultation for comprehensive management of pain and other symptoms such as nausea, vomiting, confusion and shortness of breath.
- Developing goals of treatment, preparation of assistance in end-of-life decision making
- An advance directive is a legal document that helps ensure that your healthcare wishes will be respected if you become unable to speak or otherwise communicate for yourself. An advance directive, sometimes referred to as a living will, includes a medical power of attorney or appointment of a healthcare agent and medical directives which are specific instructions about what type of medical care is desired or not desired in the event of permanent unconsciousness or terminal illness.
- Psychological and spiritual counseling for patients and their families.
- Discharge planning and referral to community agencies, including hospice
Five Principles of Palliative Care
Last Acts is a coalition of more then 400 organizations representing healthcare providers and consumers nationwide. The following have been adapted from the Five Principles of Palliative Care which describes what palliative care should be. These were originally written by the Last Acts task forces on palliative care and the family.
1) Palliative care respects the goals, likes and choices of the person. It…
- Respects your needs and wants as well as those of your family and other loved ones.
- Finds out from you whom you want to help plan and give you care.
- Helps you understand your illness and what you can expect in the future.
- Helps you figure out what is important.
- Tries to meet your likes and dislikes: where you get healthcare, where you want to live and the kinds of services you want.
- Helps you work together with your healthcare provider and health plan to solve problems that come with serious illness.
2) Palliative care looks after the medical, emotional, social and spiritual needs of the person. It…
- Knows that the last phases of life are an important time for you and your family.
- Offers ways for you to be comfortable and ease pain and other physical discomfort.
- Helps you and your family make needed changes if the illness gets worse.
- Makes sure you are not alone.
- Understands there may be difficulties, fears and painful feelings.
- Gives you the chance to say and do what matters most to you.
- Helps you look back on your life and make peace, even giving you a chance to grow.
3) Palliative care supports the needs of the family members. It…
- Understand that families and loved ones need help too.
- Offers support services to family caregivers, such as time off for rest, and advice and support by telephone.
- Knows that caregiving may put some family members at risk of getting sick themselves. It considers their needs.
- Offers advice for family members to manage the costs of caregiving, such as leave of absence and other expenses.
- Offers help to family and loved ones with their grief.
4) Palliative care helps gain access to needed healthcare providers and appropriate care settings. It…
- Uses many kinds of trained care providers—doctors, nurses, pharmacists, clergy, social workers and personal caregivers.
- Makes sure someone is in charge of seeing that your needs are met.
- Helps you use hospital, home care, hospice and other services if indicated and desired.
- Matches available resources to the needs of you and your family.
5) Palliative care builds ways to provide excellent care at the end of life. It…
- Helps care providers learn about the best ways to care for dying people. It gives them the education and support they need.
- Works to make sure there are good policies and laws in place.
- Seeks funding by private health insurers, health plans and government agencies.
Palliative Care Consultation Service
The palliative care service at UPMC Hamot is a support service to the attending physician and patient. The palliative care consultation service offers advice to you and your personal physician about treatment and support when you are facing serious or terminal illness. The palliative care team offers services along with the entire healthcare team and does not replace it. Palliative care assists a patient and his/her family in restoring and maintaining the quality of their life as they define it by responding to their physical, psychological, social and spiritual needs. The immediate goal of palliative care is to achieve the best possible control of distressing symptoms and bringing back their daily function as much as possible.
Initiating Palliative Care Services
Palliative care consult line: 814-877-2565
The palliative care consults can be ordered from 8 a.m. Monday through 4 p.m. Friday. To receive palliative care the attending physician or consulting physician, with the attending physician’s consent, must write an order for a palliative care consultation.
Palliative Care Patients
Palliative care services can benefit the patient with a wide variety of needs and most commonly treat:
- People with pain or other unrelieved symptoms related to cancer or cancer-related treatment.
- Individuals with AIDS, progressive neurological diseases and refractory cardiac failure.
- Patients with nutritional problems caused by progressive disease.
- Patients and families with psychological distress related issues.
- Families burdened with conflict about medical decisions.
