Third Edition, National Consensus Project for Quality Palliative Care, 2013. - 70 Ρ.
The number of individuals with a serious or life threatening illness continues to grow as the result of an aging population and advances in technology that allow increased longevity. In order to improve quality of life during serious illness or life threatening illness, an increasing number of palliative care programs have developed. Palliative care is rooted in the interdisciplinary hospice model of care, introduced to the United States over 30 years ago as a grassroots movement. Throughout the country, hospices, with their focus on holistic and team-based care, provide care to patients and their families at the end-of-life. Within their communities, hospices serve as a resource for patients and families facing serious or life threatening illness and also offer grief and bereavement support.
Today, the initiation of palliative care increasingly begins at the diagnosis of a serious or life threatening illness. Contemporary definitions of palliative care reflect the expansion of care throughout the illness trajectory, with a patient and family centered focus. Palliative care is provided across all health settings including: acute care hospitals, rehabilitation hospitals, ambulatory settings, long term care settings, community programs within home health or hospice organizations, and hospices. Palliative care is delivered by interdisciplinary teams consisting of chaplains, nurses (professional registered nurses such as RN, APRNs and LVNs/LPNs as well as other nursing disciplines such as nursing assistants or aides) physicians, and professional social workers. Other disciplines such as licensed massage therapists, art and music therapists, and child life experts often collaborate with the palliative care team. Palliative care is available to all populations across the life span including neonates, children, and older adults in various settings. Palliative care team members manage pain and other symptoms; facilitate person-centered communication, promote decision making; and coordinate care across settings throughout the disease trajectory.
The mission of the National Consensus Project for Quality Palliative Care is to create clinical practice guidelines that improve the quality of palliative care in the United States. Specifically, the Clinical Practice Guidelines for Quality Palliative Care promote quality palliative care, foster consistent and high standards in palliative care, and encourage continuity of care across settings. Since there is shared responsibility for palliative care across health care settings, the emphasis is on collaborative partnerships within and between hospitals, community centers, hospices, and home health agencies to ensure quality, continuity, and access to palliative care.