Tip:
Highlight text to annotate it
X
Hello my name is Catherine Jarvis and I am a student at the Sacred Heart School Of Montreal.
Inspired by Palliative Care pioneers from around the world I have decided to complete
a project to help youth, like myself better understand death and end of life care. I have
asked 5 youth their questions on the subject and have brought them to an interview I recently
had with Dr. Balfour Mount, the father of Palliative Care in Canada. Here are the questions
and his answers
What is Palliative Care?
Palliative Care is a kind of health care that is aimed at quality of life rather than curing
or prolonging life. So its for those people who are sick who we can no longer cure or
prolong their life. Its realizing they matter and its helping them have the best possible
quality of life.
How did Palliative Care start?
Palliative Care started when we did a study, here in Montreal at the Royal Victoria Hospital
to look at the quality of care given to dying patients and found that care was deficient.
I visited the centre in England, a Hospice centre that was not part of the health care
system and the idea was to take the lessons they learned and to make it part of the health
care system and we did that at the Royal Victoria Hospital here in Montreal and that became
Palliative Care and now around the world that is called Palliative Care and the doctors
are doing Palliative Medecine.
Who benefits from Palliative Care?
First of all, the person who is ill or sick benefits because we know a lot more now about
how to control pain and suffering so that they can be comfortable. Secondly, the family
benefits because clearly they are very concerned and involved and upset so the unit of care
is not just the person who is sick, but the person and family and they benefit. And finally,
we benefit as caregivers because we turned a defeat in dying into a victory in quality
of living and as you know when we, when any of us helps someone else we end up often reaping
the benefit just as much as the person we've helped.
How does Palliative Care help the patient's view and family's view on death?
Because Palliative Care is pretty good at controlling pain and other symptoms its effective
also in helping with the psycological, the social and the spiritual, and the total pain
and suffering that patient and family may have. Because we can lessen those problems,
what the person who's sick and their families generally find is that the time of defeat
and ilness can indeed be quality time and a very important time in the life of that
family and patient.
Why do youth need to know about end of life care?
I think the lesson for all of us and no matter what age is that we matter. You matter simply
because you are, because you're alive and you matter until the very end and I think
that the main lesson of Palliative Care and reassurance for all of us is realizing and
recognizing that dying is part of life and it doesn't need to be scary and it doesn't
need to be a time of just great anxiety, but it can be a time of celebration of that part
of life in a family.
If you have any more questions about death or end of life care for more information please
feel free to visit the online Canadian Hospice Palliative Care Association webiste at...