Good news for palliative care pts and workers

[cmonkey]

Palliative Care Extends Life, Study Finds

In a study that sheds new light on the effects of end-of-life care, doctors have found that patients with terminal lung cancer who began receiving palliative care immediately upon diagnosis not only were happier, more mobile and in less pain as the end neared-but they also lived nearly three months longer.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/19/health/19care.html?_r=1

I'm so happy to see this news. If people just understood the point of palliative care, what a world of difference could be made.

[leslie :-D]

this research only confirms that i've always believed.

we are indeed, truly holistic beings.

that treating only the physical aspects of ourselves, is incomplete.

only when we aim to heal the body, mind, and spirit, do we feel whole and heal wholly.

let's get this inspiring news out, shall we?:balloons:

leslie

[blondy2061h, MSN, RN]

It makes sense that patients with better symptom management would live longer. That's great news! They've known for awhile that people with a will to live have a better prognosis, yet we go on letting patients have constant pain, nausea, and dyspnea. I'm starting to see palliative care used more and more in my oncology practice. It's a refreshing trend. People need to stop associating palliative care with death.