Physicians providing palliative care should cultivate the art of listening, exuding empathy and providing pain relief, said V. Shanta, chairman of Adyar Cancer Institute, on Saturday.
Inaugurating a palliative care workshop here, she urged physicians not to depend on the knowledge about advances in symptomatic care alone. The mindset that cancer pain cannot be relieved must be dispelled.
The workshop was organised by the Institute’s Department of Psycho-Oncology, Pallium India, Thiruvananthapuram, and Cancer Aid Society.
Dr. Shanta said little was done to relieve a patient of pain as there was unfounded fear of addiction in doctors and families who tend to under-prescribe and under-dose pain-relieving drugs. “Symptom relief is vital. Doctors and families must be educated to say pain is treatable and suffering should be relieved at any cost.”
Dr. Shanta said a palliative care programme could successfully be used to create awareness of cancer and early detection among family members and friends.
She advised doctors to make “an experienced multi-disciplinary decision,” while providing treatment. This included taking into consideration symptom control, complications associated with the proposed treatment, anticipated period of survival with or without intervention, quality of living and cost-effectiveness, Dr. Shanta told the gathering of medicare providers and palliative care professionals.
M. Bhaskaran, director (in-charge) of Drug Control Administration, spoke about regulations and the standard of procedure to be followed for setting up a recognised medical institution that could provide palliative care.
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