REVIEW ARTICLE |
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Year : 2011 | Volume
: 17
| Issue : 4 | Page : 74--76 |
Hospital-based palliative care: A case for integrating care with cure
Priya Darshini Kulkarni
Cipla Palliative Care and Training Centre, Pune. Maharashtra, India
Correspondence Address:
Priya Darshini Kulkarni Cipla Palliative Care and Training Centre, Pune. Maharashtra India
 Source of Support: None, Conflict of Interest: None  | Check |
DOI: 10.4103/0973-1075.76248
The reason that probably prompted Dame Cicely Saunders to launch the palliative care movement was the need to move away from the impersonal, technocratic approach to death that had become the norm in hospitals after the Second World War. Palliative care focuses on relieving the suffering of patients and families. Not limited to just management of pain, it includes comprehensive management of any symptom, which affects the quality of life. Care is optimized through early initiation and comprehensive implementation throughout the disease trajectory. Effective palliative care at the outset can help accelerate a positive clinical outcome. At the end of life, it can enhance the opportunity for the patient and family to achieve a sense of growth, resolve differences, and find a comfortable closure. It helps to reduce the suffering and fear associated with dying and prepares the family for bereavement.
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