Discuss on the 5 principles of management of terminal illness

Perception of terminal illness entails the use of a holistic model that should aim at improving the quality of life for the patients as well as their families. In this regard, the principles of management whose aim and objectives are in the provision of physical, emotional, social and spiritual care for the patients as well as supporting their families. Here are the five key principles of managing terminal illness:

 1. Symptom Management

 Pain Control: Control of pain is very important during the time of the terminal illness. This entails the application of medications such as opioids and other adjuvant analgesics as well as non-pharmacological measures for instance physiotherapy and relaxation and so on that aim at the management of pain and promotion of comfort.

 Management of Other Symptoms: Managing other worrying symptoms like nausea, breathlessness, feeling exhausted, and having hard bowel movements. This can be in terms of medications, diet modifications, or other measures such as Oxygen therapy and other measures of supportive care .

 Individualized Care: Individualisation of symptom control approach in terms of the general health conditions and prognosis of the diseases.

 2. Holistic Care

 Physical, Emotional, and Spiritual Needs: Caring for the patient commencing from their physical, emotional, and spiritual requirement. It also embraces managing of somatic complaints and being available for providing comfort, psychotherapy and spiritual aid if appropriate according to the patient’s belief system.

 Support for Families: Identifying the families and attending to the emotional state or well-being including the grief and caregiver burden that they go through. To offer care and counseling to enable the patients to deal with the ordeals of a terminal ailment.

 Integration of Care: Using the medical and mental health care teams to avoid repetitive and fragmented models of treatment in which the patient is attended to by different healthcare professionals such as doctors, nurses, social workers, and chaplains, and are assumed to cover all aspects of the patient’s needs.

 3. Communication

 Open Dialogue: The following core competencies case: Explaining the diagnosis with patient and families, emulating, sharing information about prognosis and goals of treatment. Making the patients understand what is being done and encouraging them to participate in the decision making process.

 Advance Care Planning: Talking with the patient about their wishes about life-sustaining treatment in case of terminal illness, including the actual advance directive and DNR orders. Making sure that these preferences are well expressed and made known to the healthcare team.

 Ongoing Communication: Continued patient and family interactions wherein they are informed of new developments in the condition of the patient, identification of new issues that would require in changes in the management plan and overall monitoring of the care being provided.

 4. Ethical Considerations

 Respect for Autonomy: Respecting the patient’s autonomy to make decisions on issues to do with their care, treatment, comfort and dying. Are firmly empowering the patient’s self-determination and making certain to sustainably provide an informed personal consent.

 Beneficence and Non-Maleficence: To address the realities and the nature of risk in clinical practice while attempting to uphold the principles of nonmaleficence or doing no harm to the clients as well as to optimize the potential benefits of care provided to the clients. This entails issues to do with the patient’s aims and well being.

 Confidentiality and Privacy: Maintaining the confidentiality of patient’s information and honouring the privacy and dignity of the individuals during the period of their illness.

 5. Supportive Care and Resources

 Palliative and Hospice Care: Palliative care for patients with advanced illness to address physical, emotional, spiritual and social issues and hospice care for patients with six months or less to live with acumen and recurrent distressing symptoms.

 Resource Access: Arranging to obtain community support services for patients and families in terms of home health services, respite care and support groups to deal with issue of terminal illness.

 Education and Counseling: Providing information on the disease to the patients and families, expostulating the disease process, controlling the symptoms, and handling the emotions and psychological aspects of the terminal illnesses.