Paliatívna medicína a liečba bolesti 2e/2015

Has hospice justification in the health care system?

In this article we would like to give an answer to some superficial interpretations of palliative care in a hospice. Medical and nursing care both require expert knowledge as it is in other fields. Treatment by opioids, other symptomatic treatment, synchronization of drug administration or discontinuation of unnecessary drugs, knowing possibilities of treatment of many kinds of terminal illnesses. Palliative medical care is an active one, it considers possibilities. A patient and his relatives are involved in all decisions because only they can understand the therapeu tical journey the patient has gone through so far, physical and mental strength he has and what he considers to be the best quality of life for him. A person´s quality of life is such a subjective feeling that we cannot estimate, without consulting the patient and his relatives, what this is in his situation. We have to consider that the patient struggles to find the meaning of his suffering and illness and to find a way that leads to future. It’s necessary to find understanding with other specialists so that they know they have someone to turn to when they need to say to their patient: There is nothing I can do for you. A research in palliative care confirms that this is an equal specialty to other fields.

Keywords: quality of life, hollistic approach, hospic.