Health & Fitness
Palliative Care Improves Quality of Life for Seriously Ill and Their Families
Palliative care provides a team approach for comfort-focused care to individuals coping with one or more serious illness. In the past few years, palliative care has come into the national spotlight due to increasing numbers of seriously ill patients and their caregivers needing help to manage pain and other symptoms related to their conditions. In Connecticut, Governor Malloy recently signed into law an act to establish an advisory council on palliative care to officially address this growing need.
The Palliative Care Program of McLean Home Care & Hospice is dedicated to helping patients and families all along the illness journey, as well as at the end of life. Pat Adams RN, Administrator, explains “McLean’s program has been enhanced to include the best practices in this rapidly changing field. As part of this new effort, we are reaching out to offer complementary phone or home palliative care consultations to families and patients with any type of serious illness. Our highly experienced Palliative Care nurses, who have achieved Certified Hospice and Palliative Care certificates [CHPN], are ready to help. We urge patients and families to call us at 860-658-3954 for information before a crisis occurs. Families often tell us, ‘If only we had known about you sooner.’ Our compassionate, expert Palliative Care professionals work tirelessly to make every day a good day for patients and families. They have great respect for patient values and choices during this difficult journey.”
McLean’s Palliative Care Program focuses on quality of life. Services may include but are not limited to:- Expert management of pain and other symptoms to achieve comfort
- Close communication and coordination of care with patient’s physicians
- Illness-specific education and/or consultation for patients and caregivers
- Guidance with difficult and complex treatment choices
- Careful condition management to reduce risk of hospital admissions, and
- Smooth care transitions to hospice services if the illness becomes life-limiting
For more information, visit www.McLeanHomeCare.org or call 860-658-3954.
