Care of cancer patients
Written by:The cancer patient is the person who has had or has cancer. Each year there are about 225,000 new cases of cancer. This disease is accompanied by a significant emotional burden by the uncertainty of their evolution, side effects, the change in daily life and the symptoms of it. For these reasons cancer patients often feel a sense of vulnerability and loss of control that increase the level of distress and makes you need specific care.
The goal of care home health care is that the patient learns to win security and live with the disease in its evolutionary stages.
Types of cancer patient care
Pay adequate attention to symptoms that appear during the disease process, and give them a personalized treatment, it is the best way to give quality of life.
- Pain Control: Special to the presence of pain care and intensive treatment thereof, education in basic management guidelines analgesics, application of other techniques as appropriate.
- Symptom control: a digestive level (loss of appetite, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, constipation), the respiratory system (cough, shortness of breath), other levels (fatigue or tiredness, loss of energy, difficulty sleeping, daytime sleepiness , etc).
- Changes in mood: as anxiety, distress, depressive symptoms ...
Recommendations for family
For family it is vital to know how to look and how to treat the sick, knowing what to do and what not to do. Have alongside a team to provide guidance on the different situations will give them a lot of security. It is important to follow the recommendations:
- What to do if you have pain
- What to do if you have no appetite
- What to do if you do not want to leave, or will not get out of bed; or whether on the contrary wants to leave or travel
- What to do if you ask us, how to talk, ...
Benefits of care for cancer patients
- Make available a support service that generates security
- Responding to frequent queries that may arise them about symptoms, medication, etc.
- Responding to queries about how to respond to the presence of pain.
- Help identify possible side effects and advise on them
- Making emotional support through active listening
- Provide other practical advice they can apply
- In many cases avoid trips to emergency services or long waits in outpatient
