What is it about?
This article helps people understand lung disease, symptom management, decision making, and referral components to improve access to palliative care, addressing pain relief and improved quality of life, that benefits patients, clinicians and society.
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Why is it important?
Research demonstrates that transforming care for people living with serious and life-threatening conditions such as lung diseases requires a fundamental shift towards palliative care that is coordinated around a range of services and patient conditions. Clinician–patient communication is significantly improved when palliative care professionals, who receive extensive training in compassion and communication, are part of palliative care consultations.
Perspectives
From personal experience with my mother's COPD condition, I think it is critical to keep the patient and family at the center of care, with palliative care integrated across the disease trajectory from diagnosis to death. Our team made such a difference in keeping her active and alive for three wonderful "bonus" years.
Dr. Georgia L. Narsavage
West Virginia University
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: The potential of palliative care for patients with respiratory diseases, Breathe, November 2017, European Respiratory Society (ERS), DOI: 10.1183/20734735.014217.
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