There are many issues that face someone in the final stages of life. They include pain management, nausea, and various other problems. The role of the palliative care team is to help relieve these problems as much as possible, to allow the patient to have a better quality-of-life at this stage.
In this section, you will find articles and links to help address these issues and to you understand the therapies and their effects.
Physical Issues – a breakdown of the various issues faced by people at the end-of-life
Coma – care when a patient is in a coma
Constipation – the importance and prevention of constipation at the end-of-life
Over-the-Counter Medications for Pain Relief
Dealing with pain can be very difficult; one of the biggest issues in getting help with pain management is being able to talk about your pain with your doctor.
This audio link How to talk with your physician about pain is a 7-minute tutorial, which was taken from The Handbook for Mortals. Heart-to-Heart: Caring for the Dying, is an audio documentary about end-of-life care. The GrowthHouse.org has made available this 18-minute program on pain control, discussing good pain management.
Did you realize that according to a new report that was published Sept. 28, 2007, up to 80% of people who are dying from cancer do NOT have access to proper pain control? The authors of the study write: “around 80% of the world’s cancer sufferers have no access to analgesics and that while the majority of pains can be controlled, an estimated 7% of all people in the world suffer cancer pain that could be relieved but is not.” You can find more study findings in the New Report Exposes Wide-Scale Lack of Access to Essential Analgesics
The same information is available in this press release geared more to the general public, 7% of World Population Suffering Unnecessary Cancer Pain.
Sleep Hygiene – to encourage a restful sleep
