Table 1 Key messages that Palliative Care professional convey on their clinical interaction with patients and families
Message 1: We are a team: focused in your wellbeing | Message 2: You matter: we want to meet you as a person | Message 3: Family matters: they are also importante to us |
|---|---|---|
a) We are a multidisciplinary team | a) We want to know about you as a person | a) We are here to relieve the suffering of the family |
- Multidisciplinary team to attend your holistic needs | - Life moments/experiences | - We help to resolve problems |
- We show more what we do (actions), than what we are (identity) | - We recognize you as the person you are | - We want to support family too |
- We tend not to use the term “palliative care” directly. We use it carefully | ||
b) We are experts in symptom control | b) We want to know about your experience with the disease | b) We want to support the caregivers |
- We use pain assessment tools to measure, (re) evaluate, and prevent pain and other symptoms | - Disease trajectory | - To take care of the patient |
- Symptoms | - To take care of themselves | |
- It is easier to start the conversation based con symptoms control | - Clinical decision making |