Taking Control of Your Care
Your loved one's care will be carefully tailored to meet their specific needs and preferences ensuring that your loved one's voice is key to guiding their palliative care experience. That's why your care team will take the time to get to know their patient, so they can understand their priorities, desires, and goals for care and their quality of life.
Your palliative care team will support your loved one to create a plan that puts them in control and allows your loved one to live a high-quality life. And as their needs shift, your care team will be there to adjust the plan to ensure they have the support they need.
By understanding their goals and wishes, both your loved one and care team will be able to better tailor their treatment plan.
Questions to consider when helping your loved one live well include:
asking what makes them happy, what activities and experiences they would like to do, what fears and worries they have about their illness, what needs and services they would like to discuss, what they hope for their family and loved ones, what keeps them going when life is hard, if they have religious or spiritual needs, how they could make this time more meaningful, and how they would approach balancing living longer versus more comfortably or energetically.
Create the Perfect Care Plan
Palliative doctors can help your loved one develop a care plan that considers their goals and wishes for living well. They consider all of the benefits and burdens of treatments and work with you to make a decision that is right for you. Your care team understands that your needs and wishes may change during care and take that into consideration when developing your loved one's care plan.
