Palliative care refers to the support provided to relieve the physical, psychological, social and existential pain and distress facing anyone with a health condition that puts their lives at risk.
Traditionally, palliative care is associated with people with specific conditions – most often cancer. This widespread misconception constitutes a barrier for society to accept palliative care and for public policies to facilitate its delivery. Older people are among the individuals that suffer the most from the misconceptions linked to palliative care. Many older persons die in pain and distress because care professionals and their social environment do not facilitate the access to that type of care.
We reminded that palliative care is critical for wellbeing and dignity and we highlighted that policymakers can do more to ensure a better access to palliative care for older people.
In the framework of InAdvance, we will produce, by 2023, evidence-based recommendations on how to facilitate early and timely access to palliative care.
You can access the campaign in Twitter using the hashtags #MyCareMyRight and #whpcd19
For more information, you can visit the website of InAdvance.