Home-Based Palliative Care: Filling the Gap for People with Serious Illness
Agape Healthcare - Hospice & Palliative Care
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Apr 22, 2021
Colorado - Denver Metro
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Managing a chronic or serious illness has always had its challenges: navigating multiple providers, medications, adjustments and treatments. The coronavirus pandemic has compounded this challenge for many. Fear of contracting the virus, inability to travel to appointments (or long stretches between visits) has left a gap in care and support.
With a focus on relieving the symptoms and stress associated with illness, home-based palliative care can fill that gap. The palliative patient and family are visited at home by a nurse practitioner (NP), and often a social worker.
Palliative care begins with a question: What's most important to you?
The NP listens and learns everything possible about the individual's condition, experience and goals for care. Based on this discovery, the patient, family and palliative team co-create a plan to meet those goals.
Working with a person's current medical providers, the palliative NP becomes a central point of contact and an added layer of support. The NP helps people understand the course of illness and provides relief of pain and other difficult symptoms, like nausea, anxiety, sleeplessness or shortness of breath.
Living with serious illness can carry tremendous emotional stress: for individuals and those close to them. Yet family dynamics (often complex in the face of illness) may make it difficult for people to have important conversations. The palliative NP and social worker serve to alleviate stress for patients and family. They provide education, resources, planning for life around treatment and opportunity to talk in an environment of understanding and support.
What we hear most from families is: We wish we'd found you sooner.
If you or someone you care for could benefit from palliative care, please don't hesitate to get in touch with a provider. Palliative care can fill the gap with care coordination, ongoing support and relief in the comfort of home. This medical specialty is covered by Medicare, Medicaid and most private insurance.
Editor's Note: This article was submitted by Autumn Rowland, FNP-C, Director of Palliative Services at Agape Healthcare and may be reached at 720-482-1988 or by email at arowland@agape-healthare.com.
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