An Insight into Palliative Care
What could be more dreadful than knowing that your life is nearing its end, with just a couple of months or days remaining? Every minute, someone is dying somewhere around the globe. Many fail to receive a decent end. Toward the end of life, a patient needs nothing more than care and support to relieve mental stress and care that can temporarily alleviate their pain and symptoms. Patients approaching their end only wish to have a quality life of comfort and care for those fleeting moments.
Palliative care is a multidisciplinary approach in medical science that aims at improving the lives of people when no cure can be expected for diseases such as cancer. The goal of a palliative care team in a hospital or hospice is to address the physical, emotional, and spiritual concerns of patients that arise in the advanced stages of any dreadful illness.
Challenges Faced by Cancer Charities in Palliative Care
Palliative care can be provided by doctors, nurses, and other allied health professionals such as physiotherapists and counsellors, along with the usual curative care. However, palliative care, being a multidisciplinary approach, includes:
- Administration of medications
- Counselling
- Other diversified activities such as gardening, cooking, art, and design to keep patients engaged and comfort them emotionally
- Spiritual care through prayer and meditation
As we see, palliative care is a round-the-clock job that requires hospital or hospice (Hughes et al., 2024) staff to work beyond normal hours to ensure proper support and care for patients. Apart from palliative care support, health professionals in hospitals are also involved with other healthcare concerns and administrative work. Hence, the contribution of care providers in hospitals cannot be expected beyond their working hours. Cancer charities (Alizadeh et al., 2024) involved in palliative care find it challenging to meet this growing demand due to a shortage of staff. Most cancer charities rely on unpaid volunteers to meet the growing demand as they cannot afford to recruit paid professionals due to budget constraints.
The reliance on volunteers does not necessarily resolve the challenges faced by these cancer charities. Not all individuals are ready to volunteer for such a cause; many are reluctant. This reluctance is often due to a lack of awareness about the cause, the absence of monetary benefits, or an inability to find an ideal platform to contribute, even if they wish to help.
Why Volunteer?
People may volunteer for various reasons:
- To do good for people in their last hours of life and be someone special in their lives.
- To put their skills to use for a good cause rather than solely for monetary benefit.
- To expand their network.
- To fill a career gap.
- To gain valuable and life-enriching experiences by volunteering for such a cause.
Especially those who are retired or in a job transition often volunteer, pledging their time and skills to help others and find personal happiness. Some are motivated by having experienced a similar situation in their own families and wish to extend a supporting hand to others facing the same.
The list goes on. Nevertheless, volunteers involved in palliative care within cancer charities are deeply engaged in providing comfort and happiness to patients, even fulfilling some of their last wishes.
Fostering Positive Emotions through Palliative Care and Volunteering
Palliative care does not only address the physical pains of a patient but also builds up positive emotions, as considered crucial in the PERMA model (Carlton and Wong, 2023) as an aspect of overall flourishment or wellbeing, which is helpful in the betterment of a dying patient. Positive emotions like gratitude, hope, and joy, even if fleeting, can greatly improve the quality of life for individuals at the end of life. These emotions help patients find solace and meaning, often countering the despair that accompanies terminal illnesses. In integrating activities such as art therapy, music, or even the fulfillment of last wishes, palliative care teams create environments where patients can experience moments of joy and connection. Volunteering is an important part of this process. Volunteers bring warmth, empathy, and companionship, often being the bridge that helps patients tap into these positive emotions. The very act of volunteering is a transformation not only in the emotional and practical support given to patients but also in the enrichment of the volunteers’ lives. Witnessing the profound impact of their contributions fosters a sense of purpose and fulfillment, making volunteering in palliative care a powerful social good. This ripple effect inspires communities to prioritize human dignity, reinforcing the societal value of supporting individuals in their final stages of life.
Hypothetical Case Study
Mrs. Anaya, 68 years old and diagnosed with terminal cancer, was admitted to a hospice for palliative care. She was in a very fragile condition but wished to experience one last family meal in celebration of her Sunday afternoon gatherings. The staff at the hospice, along with many volunteers, arranged a special day for her. They turned the sitting room into a dining space, with her favourite foods prepared by a volunteer chef. For Anaya, being surrounded by her family and supported by the care team made her feel full of joy and connected to others. The laughter and gratitude they shared that instant lightened her mood. This is a very sure case of how palliative care can create positive moods and fulfill Anaya’s emotional and social needs in the final chapter of her life.
Volunteering has a special meaning attached to it. Isn’t this a noble job of its kind? Why not pledge to volunteer for palliative care and bring out the human within you?
References
- Alizadeh, Z., Rohani, C., Rassouli, M., Ilkhani, M., Hazrati, M., 2024. Bridging the gap and developing a home-based palliative care model for cancer patients. Asia-Pac. J. Oncol. Nurs. 11, 100583. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apjon.2024.100583
- Carlton, S., Wong, J.H.K., 2023. Applying the PERMA Framework to Young Volunteers in Aotearoa New Zealand. Int. J. Appl. Posit. Psychol. 8, 599–620. https://doi.org/10.1007/s41042-023-00108-3
- Hughes, N.M., Noyes, J., Stringer, C., Pritchard, T., 2024. “Before I came to the hospice, I had nobody”. A qualitative exploration of what patients, family-caregivers, clinicians and volunteers valued most about home, day therapy or inpatient hospice services. Palliat. Care Soc. Pract. 18, 26323524241231820. https://doi.org/10.1177/26323524241231820