Developing Palliative Care in Asia - Short Film

More than half of all patients with cancer experience pain. In advanced disease, close to two thirds of patients report pain, about half of whom suffer pain of moderate-to-severe intensity. If cancer pain is not adequately treated, it can have devastating consequences that affect the quality of life of patients and their families. Palliative care improves the lives of patients and their families.  Watch ‘Life asked Death’ now and learn how palliative care services can be developed in ALL countries.

Why is Palliative Care important?

If you had a life-threatening illness, would you wish to have less pain & suffering, to live longer, to avoid financial ruin, to have hope?

Financial catastrophe can be prevented

Knowing the realities of situation will help the family to avoid financial ruin from pursuing futile treatment, huge debts which will ruin not only their generation but future generations as well.

Suffering that can be avoided

It is not necessary to live & die in pain.

There are some kinds of suffering which are not avoidable but may be relieved, such as the suffering generated by grief and loss, or spiritual despair.

But much physical suffering can be avoided with proper recognition and treatment of physical symptoms.

Living Longer

Human beings developed in such a way that survival is a basic human instinct.

Most people want to live longer, provided the suffering is bearable and quality of life is reasonable.

Palliative care supports this basic human need.

There is some evidence from clinical trials that standard oncology care along with early referral to palliative care increases survival.

Reference:
Temel et al, 2010 study: http://www.nejm.org/doi/pdf/10.1056/NEJMoa1000678
Stephen Connor et al, 2007 study: http://www.nhpco.org/sites/default/files/public/JPSM/march-2007-article.pdf

Providing hope

Palliative care is about providing hope.

Every human being needs to have hope in order to live.

The hope for a cure of the disease is not the ONLY hope.

Many people hope for more time to spend with family.

People hope for reconciliation with loved ones, and from hurts in the past.

Many people still have achievable goals – attend the wedding of their children, see loved ones return to visit, write a book, go traveling. A little boy wanted to eat pizza, which he had never had before.

People have hope that they will not die in pain, or alone.

Some people hope to achieve inner peace.

Some people hope for a peaceful end.

Some people hope for something better in their next existence.