Palliative care is interdisciplinary, holistic care of patients with terminal illness, focusing on the control of pain and other symptoms. Hospice care concentrates on the relief of a terminally ill patients‘ distress, pain and symptoms during their final stages of life. The aim of both palliative and hospice care is to maintain the best possible quality for a patient‘s life.
What is palliative care?
Palliative care is interdisciplinary, holistic care for patients with life-limiting (terminal) illnesses that cannot be treated. It aims to prevent or alleviate the suffering caused by a disease.
Palliative care includes:
- the treatment and relief of pain and other symptoms
- psychological, social and spiritual support
- support for a patient's family in mourning in the period following the loss of a relative.
The aim of palliative care is to maintain the best possible quality for a patient‘s life and support for their family for the remainder of the patient’s life.
Right to receive palliative care
Palliative care may be provided to patients with such terminal illnesses as, for example, HIV infection or malignant tumours.
note Persons who receive palliative care at a medical treatment institution or palliative care provided by a general practitioner (family doctor) during a home visit are released from the patient co-payment.
Palliative care services
In Latvia, palliative care for patients may be provided:
- at a medical treatment institution
- on an outpatient basis under the supervision of a general practitioner (family doctor) during home visits
According to recent changes in the Law on Social Services and Social Assistance, the State will provide palliative care services through mobile teams at a person's home, including social care, technical aids and psychosocial rehabilitation. Psychosocial rehabilitation will also be provided for persons living in the same household, relatives and other persons involved in the patient‘s care.
What is hospice care?
Hospice care focuses on the relief of a terminally ill patient’s distress, pain and symptoms and attends to the patient‘s emotional and spiritual needs during their final stages of life. In Latvia, it may be provided to persons with a life expectancy of up to six months.
Hospice care may be seen as the final phase of palliative care, where it is particularly important to ensure an approach that meets each person's standards of quality of life.
Most patients are cared for at their home, although hospice care may sometimes be provided at medical treatment institutions or at specific in-hospice facilities.
Until now, hospice care in Latvia has usually been managed on a voluntary basis.