2nd Global Congress on Hospice & Palliative Care September 29-30, 2016 Toronto, Canada

Good management of symptoms in the terminal phase is one of the main concerns of patients and their families. The physical comfort of dying patients requires thorough assessment, excellent nursing care and careful prescribing. Some patients may experience uncontrolled and distressing symptoms at the end of life.

Palliative care is a special type of medical care that focuses on treatment of symptoms people may have when they are living with a chronic (longstanding) illness, such as cancer or heart failure. It is often compared to the hospice care that is offered to terminally ill people. In palliative care, the goal is to provide the best quality of life possible even if someone is not terminally ill.

Palliative care can address a broad range of issues, integrating an individual’s specific needs into care. The physical and emotional effects of cancer and its treatment may be very different from person to person. For example, differences in age, cultural background, or support systems may result in very different palliative care needs.

Chronic illnesses are marked by fluctuations and variations over time. Individuals with chronic illness experience pain and other symptoms that are not always adequately managed. Their caregivers often have to deal with enormous burden as the illness progresses. Palliative care can serve as an intervention to manage chronic illness, not just at the end of life but also in the early phases of illness.

Heart Disease identifies the need for patients with heart failure to have access to palliative care services for on-going support and advice; and for Renal Services goes further, listing as a quality requirement for patients near the end of life to have ‘a jointly agreed palliative care plan, built around their individual needs and preferences’.

Palliative care psychiatry focuses on the emotional and social issues that arise in someone with an advanced illness, often in someone who is receiving hospice or palliative care (hospice being one end of the palliative care spectrum, which offers enhanced palliative care to patients with a short prognosis).

Nutrition in palliative care and at the end of life should be one of the goals for improving quality of life. It is important to address issues of food and feeding at this time to assist in the management of troublesome symptoms as well as to enhance the remaining life. Cancer and its treatments exert a major impact upon physical and psychological reserves and at the end of life problems with appetite and the ability to eat and drink compound such impact.

Pediatric palliative care is care designed to meet the unique and special needs of children living with life-threatening conditions such as cancer, muscular dystrophy, cystic fibrosis, severe brain problems, complications from prematurity and birth defects and rare disorders, among other conditions.

Geriatrics is a specialty that focuses on health care of elderly people. It aims to promote health by preventing and treating diseases and disabilities in older adults. There is no set age at which patients may be under the care of a geriatrician or geriatric physician, a physician who specializes in the care of elderly people. Rather, this decision is determined by the individual patient's needs, and the availability of a specialist.

The goal of palliative care is to help them achieve the best possible quality of life through relief of suffering, control of symptoms, and restoration of functional capacity, while remaining sensitive to personal, cultural and religious values, believes and practices”. It is important that these nurses are trained in end of life treatment, psychological support, symptom management and enhancing the quality of life for their patients and the patient's families.

Palliative care generally refers to patient and family-centred care that optimizes quality of life by anticipating, preventing, and alleviating suffering across the continuum of a patient’s illness. Historically, palliative care referred to treatment available to patients at home and enrolled in hospice. More recently, palliative care has become available to acutely ill patients and its meaning has evolved to encompass comprehensive care that may be provided along with disease-specific, life-prolonging treatment.

Terminal care was defined as “the management of patients during the last few days or weeks or even months of life.” This vague definition makes visible the difficulties we have in estimating the duration of life for patients with end-of-life cancer. These difficulties can become an ethical dilemma when a physician, on referring a patient to a hospice programme, is obliged to predict accurately the patient’s prognosis.

Patients with serious or life-threatening illness are likely to find themselves in an emergency department at some point along their trajectory of illness, and they should expect to receive high-quality palliative care in that setting. In the last five years, emergency medicine has increasingly taken a central role in the early implementation of palliative care. Widespread integration of palliative care into the day-to-day practice of emergency medicine, however, is often jeopardized by the demands of many competing priorities.

Spirituality can be described as that which gives meaning to life.  It refers to the universal human need for love, hope, relatedness, value, and dignity.  Spirituality may or may not involve religious beliefs and practices. Learning that you or a loved one has a terminal illness presents many challenges.  It can also present opportunities for life review, realized potential, celebration of accomplishments, connection with loved ones, and reconciliation.

Palliative care is a philosophy and a way of caring that aims to enhance the quality of life of patients and their families facing problems associated with life-threatening illnesses. The objective of palliative care is the prevention and relief of suffering by symptom control by integrating the Health Sciences with the Humanities.

Health care or healthcare is the maintenance or improvement of health via the diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of disease, illness, injury, and other physical and mental impairments in human beings. Health care is delivered by health professionals (providers or practitioners) in allied health professions, chiropractic, dentistry, midwifery, nursing, medicine, optometry, pharmacy, psychology, and other health professions. It includes the work done in providing primary care, secondary care, and tertiary care, as well as in public health.

Complementary therapies are becoming increasingly used during the final stages of a condition, to enhance palliative or end-of-life care. These aim to help the patient cope with pain and the fear associated with the unknown, further decline, and death. These therapies include are designed to restore the body/mind balance and include things like aromatherapy, guided relaxation and imagery, music therapy, and therapeutic touch. They are thought to have a positive effect when it comes to helping the patient fall asleep, easing muscle tension, enhancing the effect of pain medication, enhancing rest, and relieving anxiety.

Palliative care at the end of life involves meeting the physical, psychological, social, and practical needs of patients and caregivers. It is not limited to the short period of time when the person is moribund. Good clinical care can prevent or alleviate suffering for many patients at the end of life by assessing symptoms and providing psychological and social support to the patients and their families.

 Research shows that palliative care and its many components are beneficial to patient and family health and well-being. A number of studies in recent years have shown that patients who have their symptoms controlled and are able to communicate their emotional needs have a better experience with their medical care. Their quality of life and physical symptoms improve.

Palliative Care 2016 provides great avenues for Investors seeking for investment opportunities and expanding their business horizons.  Our conference is attended by participants from more than 40 countries and attracts an interesting combination of academic researchers, practitioners and individuals who are engaged in various aspects of innovations in Palliative Care research thereby providing plenty of networking opportunities and newfound knowledge.

To explore more about business and investment opportunities write us at palliativecare@conferenceseries.com

Palliative care is any treatment that focuses on preventing and managing the symptoms of cancer and side effects of treatment. It also provides comprehensive support to people living with cancer and their families. Any person, regardless of age or type and stage of cancer, may receive palliative care.