Palliative Care reflection

As in any new field, business or brand finding an appropriate and adequate name is essential. Palliative care is one of the fields that its name dose not grab people’s attention toward what it actually is. People usually follow one of the two categories if they hear palliative care either they have no knowledge at all regarding the field or others who link it to death and hospice (related somehow to death). This misunderstanding of the field is related to a few reasons which one of the most is that the name itself is lacking the idea of the field itself and the services the palliative care teams provide. This misunderstanding of the field is not only a patient related issue, but also some other healthcare providers do not know about it which makes so worse as they might not recommend such option to their patients in case it is needed.

I agree with changing the message of palliative care as it is the most area that a patient or family members will learn about this field before deciding to join. Doing so will provide those patients and families with the appropriate and good information to help them decide whether they would be joining or not. The message of palliative care as extra layer of support and giving hands to both patients and families and enhance and maximize their living experience regardless of age and illness. It is sad to think that people do not know about such valuable services due to lack of understanding of the field and other healthcare providers do not know how to define it. If other healthcare providers know the true meaning and services of palliative care, they would probably advise more of their patients to join a palliative care team to receive the extra car and support that other departments cannot provide to patients and families. Also, this true meaning of palliative care will be widely spread among society based on how people get educated about this field and if others have a real-life experience.

I also agree with enhancing the palliative care services to make it more available in different areas and hospitals and to reach out to larger number of the population by expanding the hours of care to 24hr/7days a week in person or virtually in home, home support, reduced overall costs, symptom management, trust, family and more. This will help patients and their families to have the best experience with palliative care and they would absolutely speak about how great it is to other friends and family, so how important and valuable the field will be known to the society.

On the other hand, I disagree with changing the name of the brand because if only the name got changed and nothing else, people will get to know eventually and same issues with current naming will be risen again. I think regardless of the name, the message and services are what matters the most as if any healthcare providers will be suggesting palliative care to a patient with the appropriate message or if patients and families will be educating themselves. As both patients and healthcare providers have different roles, I will not be choosing the same approach to palliative care’s for either. I think healthcare providers will be only giving the suggestion and recommendation of palliative care; however, patients are the ones who will be undergo the changes in their life if they decide to go to palliative care. Based on that, I think it is essential to have the appropriate message coming from the healthcare providers, and for the patients, it will be essential to enhance the actual experience to maximize the benefits and this will result in a positive view of palliative care. As reviews and real-life experiences speak for themselves, I think patients and their families will be leaving a positive overview of the field and more people will be happy to join and experience the great services palliative care offers. And for healthcare providers, I think it will be better to educate more about the services of palliative care by learning about the field more and go for actual site visits to have much better picture of the department so they can better offer this option to the patients. If more healthcare providers know about the field and leave a positive review to their patients, more patients will be joining palliative care.