Quality of life for the terminally ill

"Quality of life"  is an indicator of the general well-being of a person, which is broader than purely material well-being. The quality of life may depend, for example, on the state of health, the content of the problems to be solved, freedom from stress and excessive preoccupation, the organization of leisure time, the level of education, access to cultural heritage.

The nature and direction of work with a person dying from an incurable disease or as a result of old age depends on the physical condition and characteristics of his person, as well as on his emotional mood, outlook and other circumstances.

The main psychological target aimed at by psycho-corrective actions, which should always be taken into account when communicating with a terminally ill patient, is the patient's fear of a "fatal" diagnosis by doctors (cancer, AIDS), debilitating pain, and death itself.

When the possibilities of pathogenetic treatment of the main disease are exhausted, symptomatic, palliative treatment is used to relieve the patient's suffering. Palliative treatment (lat. palliatus — covered with a cloak) means the use of drugs, means and methods that bring temporary relief, but do not cure the disease. Its main goal is to create the maximum possible comfort for the patient, to improve the quality of his life.

This is especially important for patients who are in the final stages of a serious illness (for example, cancer). The main thing here is not only the continuation of life, but also the creation of conditions so that the patient's remaining life is more comfortable and meaningful.

The involvement of relatives in the emotional support of the patient is of great importance. Doctors must take into account the individual system of the family and family relations. It is necessary to avoid too much informing the family about the patient's condition, while at the same time minimally informing the patient himself. It is desirable that the patient and relatives are at approximately the same level of knowledge about the disease - this contributes to greater consolidation of the family, mobilization of reserves.

Organizational forms for carrying out palliative treatment are hospices, specialized departments or centers for the treatment of AIDS patients, gerontological departments in multidisciplinary or psychiatric hospitals. The hospice service is usually focused on helping incurable cancer patients, their relatives and loved ones. The program of actions in the hospice is designed, first of all, for palliative care of patients, pain relief, psychological support.

Scientific materials:

" Use of large doses of morphine in hospice facilities. Study of the database of patients, their characteristics and influence on the prognosis of life ", carried out with the support of the International Foundation "Renaissance" Ukrainian translation of the article, which was prepared by specialists of the hospice "Tel Hashomer" and the University of Tel Aviv (Israel).