TOUGH DECISIONS

Facing our end-of-life options

TAKE THE TIME TO MAKE INFORMED DECISIONS ABOUT THE CHOICES AVAILABLE TO YOU

Caring for someone who is dying is one of life’s most challenging experiences. There’s the emotional heartbreak of trying to be supportive of them while they face a battle they can’t win and there are also the practicalities to deal with, such as helping with their medication, hospital visits and day-to-day care.

Fortunately, when it comes to palliative care in New Zealand, we have a first-class service in place to help everyone who has a life-limiting condition. Palliative care aims to not only look after the needs of a person whose illness can’t be cured, as well as provide the best possible quality of life for them, but to support their family and carers too.

Many Kiwis have no idea what is available until they, sadly, find themselves in the position of having to care for a terminally ill loved one.

And there are often a lot of misconceptions about what palliative care actually means.

It not only involves assisting a patient with their healthcare, but meeting all of their needs as well. Palliative care is free, with a lot of the cost funded by the government. But that amount has to be topped up by community donations, grants and bequests to cover all the services needed.

All too often, people think you have to have a disease like cancer to get help, but in fact palliative care is available to anyone with an illness from which they won’t recover, such as heart, liver and renal failure, chronic respiratory disease and neurological conditions. It is not just delivered by hospices – GPs, palliative care nurses, counsellors, social workers, physiotherapists, occupational therapists, pain specialists and dietitians can all be part of a team providing assistance too. More than 700 doctors, nurses and health professionals provide palliative care in New Zealand.

There is also a common misconception that hospices are places where you go to die. This isn’t the case. The hospice service is very wide-ranging and people are advised to contact them as soon as they are told their illness is life-limiting in order to access all they have to offer.

Hospice does everything from sending nurses to people’s homes to help with things

such as managing medication and showering, through to admitting them for a couple of days to help get their pain levels under control.

There are generally three reasons why people use hospice services – to manage a particular problem, for respite care (usually for a week at a time) and for care in the final stages of illness.

In day-stay facilities, services may include medical and nursing care, spiritual support, physiotherapy and occupational therapy, as well as a range of creative and social activities.