In our previous articles, we have already mentioned the aging population, and unfortunately, as people age, the fight against various chronic diseases becomes increasingly difficult.
Ensuring a high quality of life for people approaching the end of life and dignified care for the deceased has become a serious social problem worldwide. In the past, palliative or hospice care was attributed to people with incurable cancer, but over the years, it has become clear that people who are bedridden, immobile, with various cranial and other diseases, or simply in old age, also need to receive professional and high-quality care. Their caring relatives, along with patients, need advice from competent specialists on how to provide maximum comfort to the patient, how to communicate, in what position the patient should be in bed, how to eat, how to care for wounds, bedsores, etc.
By the way, it should not be forgotten that the roles of an oncologist and a palliative care physician are completely different for cancer patients, and they also differ from the services of an emergency doctor. In the case where an oncologist mainly deals with fighting the main disease, and an emergency doctor provides assistance only at the time of the call, a palliative care physician, together with an oncologist or another narrow specialist, deals with eliminating symptoms that reduce the quality of life, conducts detoxification courses, and ensures the fastest possible recovery of the body, permissible for the next course of chemotherapy.
On the other hand, there is a mistaken belief that palliative care is death, but it should not be forgotten that there are thousands of patients who effectively receive aggressive and serious treatment for various serious diseases but also need the professional palliative care of a physician who understands and is competent to be with the patient at any time and together support the course of the most severe illness. It has been proven that timely palliative care significantly increases the survival of patients battling a serious illness.
And finally, palliative medicine is a separate science, where emotional and psychological support is also considered an important, often decisive component.
The Ajapnyak Medical Center has a mobile palliative care service. In this modern and recently opened multi-profile medical center, where, along with many surgical, therapeutic, and diagnostic services, there is also an extremely important palliative mobile service. The head of the service, an oncologist, Dr. Eric Demirchyan, together with his professional palliative team, provides consultations and house calls for all those in need of the aforementioned assistance. By the way, along with palliative medicine calls, ultrasounds, laboratory tests, etc. are also conducted at home.