Top Palliative care for cancer Doctors in Delhi

Max Hospital, Delhi houses some of the best specialists for Palliative care for cancer that are trained to provide best treatments available with the latest technology. The doctors can be consulted at Delhi through in-hospital appointments and video consultations. Learn more about Palliative care for cancer doctors’ qualification, background, specialization and experience. Book doctor appointments online, check OPD timings at one of the best hospitals in Delhi.

Frequently Asked Questions

It is a comprehensive approach to managing the physical, psychological, social, spiritual & existential needs of patients and their families facing serious health-related illnesses to achieve the best quality of life by relieving suffering, controlling symptoms and restoring functional capacity. In simple words, palliative care: :

Is for patients and their families.
Helps focus on the symptoms and distress they are facing.
Respects life and regards death as a normal process.
Neither hastens nor delays death.
Helps patients live actively as long as possible till their death.

No, palliative care should be integrated at the diagnosis of any serious illness, and it continues throughout the disease and takes priority over disease-directed therapies towards the end of life. Bereavement is best provided to the grieving family once the patient has died.

The best can be seen below:

Continuum of Palliative care (A guide to Basics of Palliative care, Central Health Education Bureau)

A palliative care team may vary from institution and regional practices. It would include doctors, nursing specialists, physiotherapists, psychologists, social workers, volunteers, religious and spiritual gurus.

Pain is the most common presenting symptom to the palliative care team, along with others such as nausea, fatigue, shortness of breath, depression, anxiety, and loss of appetite. Sometimes, palliative care teams act as an extra layer of support that coordinates with home care teams, physiotherapists, and dieticians to manage symptoms at home or to guide the discharge process when there are high nursing requirements and complex symptoms and care to be provided at home.

Medications used in palliative care depend on the need of the patient, which includes pain medications, like opioids and pain adjuvants, as well as medications to manage other symptoms, such as nausea (antiemetics), constipation (laxatives) and anxiety. The specific medications used will depend on the individual patient's needs.

The three main goals of palliative care are to relieve the patient's pain and other distressing symptoms, improve the patient's quality of life, and provide support to the patient and their family throughout the illness and beyond.

In-patient hospital admissions under palliative care for supportive care needs are covered by insurances (private & public), public sector panels with tie ups with hospitals.

Talk to your healthcare provider about palliative care options. They can provide you with information and referrals to palliative care services in your area. Generalistic palliative care is provided by the primary care team, and specialist palliative care is provided by trained professionals in palliative care. You can directly approach a Max specialist palliative care team for guidance via OPD or virtual opinion for the care and guidance for your loved ones.

Yes, palliative care can be provided at home, depending on the patient's symptoms, needs and preferences. Max Specialist Palliative Care team liaisons with Max@Home for care and guidance for your loved ones at a place of your choice. Shared decision-making with the best interest of the patient forms the core principle of palliative care.

Palliative care specialists empower family members with knowledge and training to participate in the care of their patients. This participation helps them channel their energies and improve their coping and grief. Shared decision-making with patients and families restores their sense of control and maintains autonomy.

Palliative care providers can offer emotional support, education, and respite care to family members and caregivers of patients, who may experience significant stress and burden during the caregiving journey.

Advance care plans are conversations that are dependent on individual preferences and choices that outline the care individuals would want to receive towards their end-of-life, if they are seriously ill or not in a condition to express their wishes. Every person has a right to dictate a care plan and choose a healthcare proxy in case they are unable to make important decisions about their life and death. When these wishes are expressed as a medico-legal document, they are called advance directives. Palliative care providers can assist patients and their families in developing and executing advanced care plans/directives.

Spirituality, one's quest for meaning, purpose, and fulfilment in life, can get lost in a diagnosis and in coping with serious illness. One of the domains where palliative care can help is exploring and liaising with spiritual and religious gurus to improve the outcomes of patients and caregivers.

Hospice care is a philosophy of care quite similar to palliative care. It focuses on improving the quality of life of patients and families facing serious health conditions. It is specifically designed to provide comfort, care and support to individuals and their families with a life-limiting illness, including cancer, who are nearing the end of their lives. It is independent of the location of a care, home, hospital or a stand-alone institution, which is often called a hospice. Palliative care is a broad umbrella under which hospice care is a subset of the care of individuals nearing their end of life.

Reviewed by Dr Gaurav Chanana, Senior Consultant - Pain & Palliative Medicine on 10-May-24.

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