Stigma Over Palliative Care Prevents Patients To Seek Access From Supportive Therapies

A team of researchers recently found palliative care carries a stigma among patients and caregivers because it is perceived as the end of life. However, palliative care aimed to improve the quality of life of seriously ill patients and their families.

What is Palliative Care?

Despite the misperception that palliative care is synonymous with death, it is defined as a specialized medical care designed for people with serious illness. According to Get Palliative Care, this type of supportive therapy aims to provide relief from the symptoms and stress of serious illnesses such as cancer, congestive heart failure, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, kidney disease, Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis and more.

Palliative care also aims to improve the quality of life for both patient and the family. It is usually provided by a specially-trained team of doctors, nurses, social works and other specialists working together with a patient's own medical team for added support.

Why Palliative Care is Stigmatized

In the study published in the Canadian Medical Association Journal, some patients are turning down palliative care because of the stigma that this option means "giving up and simply waiting to die." These negative attitudes among patients and family caregivers are reportedly the main reason why seriously ill patients reject the palliative care option, Reuters notes.

"Patients and caregivers in our study saw palliative care as being equated with death, loss of hope, dependency, and going into places you never get out of again," Toronto's University Health Network palliative care division head and lead study author Dr. Camilla Zimmermann said.

Zimmermann also added the misperception is blatantly contradictory with the actual definition of palliative care. She stressed that palliative care provides quality of life and not the end of it.

Eradication of Stigma over Palliative Care

To break down the stigma over palliative care, Dr. Anthony Caprio, a geriatric medicine specialist at the Carolinas HealthCare System in Charlotte, North Carolina, suggested changing the name may help promote a more positive view of palliative care. He also added that palliative care should not be viewed as the last option.

"The stigma will persist if this type of care is recommended only as default treatment when curative or life-prolonging treatments are deemed ineffective or undesired," Caprio said, Ottawa Citizen quotes. "Palliative care should not be framed as a last resort option."

In addition to palliative care's rebranding, research participants also suggested public education. They said that better explanation by health care professionals is needed to eradicate the strong stigma.

As for cancer patients, it was suggested that palliative care should start at diagnosis and continue throughout, regardless of prognosis. Meanwhile, researchers stressed that the study simply showed that palliative care has a significant impact on how it is perceived, Medical Xpress reports.

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