Did You Know
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Cancer Recovery & Palliative Care (PC)
More often than not, when people hear the words ‘palliative care’ they immediately think of hospice. This connection isn’t completely wrong, given hospice services are a significant part of PC. However, there is much more to PC than most people realize. In fact, PC is a medical specialty that focuses on helping patients manage and improve their quality of life, by easing their stress and symptoms resulting from life-threatening and serious illnesses.
In addition to working with doctors and nurses, patients may also work with other practitioners in the field, such as social workers and chaplains. The PC team’s approach and goal is to better the lives of their patients by addressing the various dimensions that impact overall health—physical, psychological, spiritual and-or social. Members of a PC team strive to decrease day-to-day treatment-related ailments ranging from poor appetite, pain and nausea to fatigue and anxiety. These are not unfamiliar ailments for many cancer patients. Research shows that having PC incorporated into treatment plans early on helps a variety of patients live more actively, and may also improve life expectancy.
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), nearly 60 million people worldwide are in need of PC services and consults. But only about 15-20% actually receive care from teams or practitioners; this is due to the lack of national resources, both in terms of funding as well as expertise. Across the United States, access to PC varies region by region and state by state. At present, three quarters of the states score an A or a B grade. This means that states with an A grade reported 80% or more of their hospitals having PC teams, while those with a B grade reported 60-80%.
In Boston, at the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC), PC services are available to all patients. To schedule an appointment with medical practitioners at the Palliative Care Clinic, please call 617-667-1320. For more information about PC access across the United States, go to the Center to Advance Palliative Care’s website and take a look at the PC report card: https://reportcard.capc.org.
Here are a few palliative care resources:
https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/palliative-care
https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC3391707/
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Galleri Test: a single blood test for screening more than 50 different types of cancer at once; for more information go to: health.clevelandclinic.org and search for Galleri Test.
Cancer Hunting mRNA Treatment: currently being tested, programmable, long-acting, multi-functional cancer therapies to target specific cells and tissue areas; for more information go to: www.strandtx.com; see also articles in WIRED (Janurary, 2024) and The Guardian (February, 2024).
NOTE: Please remember to consult your physician/oncologist when considering these possibilities. Inquire—ask for more info!
