KHTS Radio Santa Clarita Radio – Santa Clarita News
Hosts: Barbara Cochran & Dr. Gene Dorio
Topic: Palliative Care
The Senior Hour – May 18, 2016
Palliative Care
On this edition of The Senior Hour, Barbara and Dr. Dorio discuss the growing medical field of palliative care and how our seniors can be best assured a quality of life that has no drop off when terminal illness takes hold.
“Palliative care is a multidisciplinary approach to specialized medical care for people with serious illnesses. It focuses on providing patients with relief from the symptoms, pain, physcical stress, and mental stresses of a serious illness—whatever the diagnosis. The goal of such therapy is to improve quality of life for both the patient and the family. Palliative care is provided by a team of physicians, nurses, and other health professionals who work together with the primary care physician and referred specialists (or, for patients who don’t have those, hospital or hospice staff) to provide an extra layer of support. It is appropriate at any age and at any stage in a serious illness and can be provided as the main goal of care or along with curative treatment. Palliative care can be provided across multiple settings including in hospitals, in the patient’s home, as part of community palliative care programs, and in skilled nursing facilities.
Interdisciplinary palliative care teams work with patients and their families to clarify goals of care and provide symptom management, psycho-social, and spiritual support.”
