Abstract

Introduction: Palliative Care is a way to promote quality of life and comfort to patients facing life-threatening, facing this a growing need for this kind of care. Seen the growing needs, health policies should be developed to improve this kind of care in public health systems.

Methods: Retrospective data were collected from all medical records. Were assessed medical records from patients admitted in the Medical Clinic ward or ICU between September 2018 and December 2018 and who was at palliative care regardless of the reason.

Results: Were assessed 17 medical records of patients who had the Palliative Care installed during the hospitalization. The mean age was 71 (±20,3) and 23,5% of these patients were female. We can see poor knowledge facing the absence of more than half categories of therapeutics decision, more than 30% of all Edmonton Scale Symptom Assessment categories, and more than 29% of all functional evaluation categories.

Conclusion: Palliative Care still needs to be linked to public and universal health system with policies that encourage knowledge improvement and creating a Palliative Care teams to provide a better care and an end-of-life without suffering.

Keywords

palliative care, palliative medicine, health knowledge, attitudes, practice; medical records, public health systems, periodic training programs, ethical/spiritual issues, communication strategies, caregiver support, psychosocial care, pain management, pain, tiredness, nausea, depression, anxiety, somnolence, appetite, shortness of breath