End-of-life care

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End-of-life care involves providing support and care for patients who are facing a life-limiting illness or injury. Social workers must be trained to address the emotional, spiritual, and practical needs of patients and their families during this difficult time.

Hospice care: Hospice care is a type of care that focuses on managing symptoms and providing emotional and spiritual support for people who have a terminal illness.
Palliative care: Palliative care is a type of care that focuses on managing symptoms and providing emotional and spiritual support for people who have a serious illness.
Advance directives: Advance directives are legal documents that allow people to communicate their health care preferences if they become unable to make their own decisions.
Pain management: Pain management is the treatment of pain that is associated with a serious illness or injury.
Ethical decision-making: Ethical decision-making involves making decisions that are in the best interest of the patient while considering the values and beliefs of the patient, family, and medical team.
Communication skills: Good communication skills are essential for providing effective end-of-life care.
Spiritual care: Spiritual care involves providing emotional and spiritual support for patients and their families.
Bereavement support: Bereavement support involves providing support for patients and their families after the death of a loved one.
Cultural competence: Cultural competence is the ability to provide care that is sensitive to the values and beliefs of patients from diverse backgrounds.
Caregiver support: Caregiver support involves providing support for the family members and friends who are caring for a patient with a serious illness.
Hospice care: This type of care includes comforting and supportive medical and palliative care for people whose condition is incurable or expected to be terminal.
Palliative care: This approach is taken to relieve the symptoms and pain of the patient and improve the quality of their life. This type of care can be given to patients who are still receiving curative treatments for their illness.
End-of-life counseling: This type of care aims at helping the individual and their family prepare for the end of life. This could include discussing their thoughts, feelings, and needs at the end of life, and making arrangements for aftercare.
Grief and bereavement care: This type of care is extended to the family and loved ones of the patient after their death. It can include individual, family or group counseling, support groups, or referrals to other community resources.
Comfort care: This type of care is pre-dominantly focused on symptom relief and emotional support for patients whose condition cannot be cured or treated.
Spiritual support: This type of care is focused on providing support and comfort in patients' spiritual beliefs while respecting individual belief systems and traditions.
Respite care: This type of care is given to the family or caregiver of the patient to take a break from caregiving responsibilities temporarily.
Home healthcare: This type of care is provided at a patient's home and enables the family or caregiver to be more involved in their care, while being supported by healthcare professionals.
Acute hospital care: This type of care is given in a hospital or clinical setting, and often aims to provide the patient with symptom relief and emotional support.
Dementia-focused care: This type of care is designed to meet the unique needs of those with dementia or Alzheimer's disease, especially when they are in the end stages of their disease.
"The World Health Organization (WHO) describes palliative care as 'an approach that improves the quality of life of patients and their families facing the problems associated with life-threatening illness, through the prevention and relief of suffering by means of early identification and impeccable assessment and treatment of pain and other problems, physical, psychosocial, and spiritual'."
"Palliative care (derived from the Latin root palliare, or 'to cloak') is an interdisciplinary medical caregiving approach aimed at optimizing quality of life and mitigating suffering among people with serious, complex, and often terminal illnesses."
"The World Health Organization (WHO) describes palliative care as 'an approach that improves the quality of life of patients and their families facing the problems associated with life-threatening illness, through the prevention and relief of suffering by means of early identification and impeccable assessment and treatment of pain and other problems, physical, psychosocial, and spiritual'."
"Today the WHO takes a broader patient-centered approach that suggests that the principles of palliative care should be applied as early as possible to any chronic and ultimately fatal illness."
"Rather, a patient-centered model prioritizes relief of suffering and tailors care to increase the quality of life for terminally ill patients."
"It is provided by an interdisciplinary team which can include physicians, nurses, occupational and physical therapists, psychologists, social workers, chaplains, and dietitians."
"Palliative care can be provided in a variety of contexts, including hospitals, outpatient, skilled-nursing, and home settings."
"Although an important part of end-of-life care, palliative care is not limited to individuals near the end of life."
"Evidence supports the efficacy of a palliative care approach in improvement of a person's quality of life."
"Palliative care's main focus is to improve the quality of life for those with chronic illnesses."
"Palliative care is appropriate for individuals with serious illnesses across the age spectrum."
"It can be provided as the main goal of care or in tandem with curative treatment."
"It is provided by an interdisciplinary team which can include physicians, nurses, occupational and physical therapists, psychologists, social workers, chaplains, and dietitians."
"Through the prevention and relief of suffering by means of early identification and impeccable assessment and treatment of pain and other problems, physical, psychosocial, and spiritual'."
"The World Health Organization (WHO) describes palliative care as 'an approach that improves the quality of life of patients and their families facing the problems associated with life-threatening illness, through the prevention and relief of suffering by means of early identification and impeccable assessment and treatment of pain and other problems, physical, psychosocial, and spiritual'."
"Through the prevention and relief of suffering by means of early identification and impeccable assessment and treatment of pain and other problems, physical, psychosocial, and spiritual'."
"Through the prevention and relief of suffering by means of early identification and impeccable assessment and treatment of pain and other problems, physical, psychosocial, and spiritual'."
"Palliative care can be provided in a variety of contexts, including hospitals, outpatient, skilled-nursing, and home settings."
"A patient-centered model prioritizes relief of suffering and tailors care to increase the quality of life for terminally ill patients."
"Palliative care is not limited to individuals near the end of life and can be helpful for a person of any stage of illness that is critical or any age."