Jain Tanya, Jain Roopesh
Department of Anesthesiology, LN Medical College and JK Hospital, Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh, India.
Department of Anesthesiology and Unit Head Pain and Palliative Care, LN Medical College and JK Hospital, Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh, India.
Indian J Palliat Care. 2020 Jun;26(Suppl 1):S76-S80. doi: 10.4103/IJPC.IJPC_164_20. Epub 2020 Jun 30.
COVID-19, the new pandemic faced by the world, is a novel betacoronavirus causing severe respiratory coronavirus syndrome. Elderly patients, people with underlying chronic illnesses, cancer patients, and those who are immunocompromised are at higher risk and account for higher mortality rate. Unfortunately, there is no approved medication for treatment, till date, thereby supporting triage management and difficult decision-making. Thus, there should be a substantial increase in the palliative care in times of pandemic. There should be an increase in the availability of palliative care services in different care settings. Due to a surge in the number of cases of COVID-19, it has been reported on how palliative care is being delayed, discontinued, or deprioritized.
The aim of this study is to evaluate the barriers occurring in providing the palliative care to the patients with nonmalignant illness.
A questionnaire was designed after studying previous work over palliative care and pandemic crisis and was distributed among the physicians, surgeons, and the residents; a total of 95 health-care workers were involved. The survey was done through mails. The response then was evaluated and analyzed.
As seen by the responses we got from the health-care workers, the main issue is the nonavailability of the personal protective equipment during this pandemic. Keeping the current scenario in mind, regarding COVID-19, the patients are at fear of coming to the hospital at first place, and even if they come then the fear of being alone haunts them. One of the biggest fears of the patient is dying alone, without being in contact with their loved ones.
Palliative care should be an essential part of any health-care service in any humanitarian crisis, including the COVID-19 pandemic. Thus, effort should be made to remove the barriers and provide palliative care to the patient.
新型冠状病毒肺炎（COVID-19）是全球面临的新疫情，是一种新型β冠状病毒，可导致严重的呼吸道冠状病毒综合征。老年患者、患有基础慢性疾病的人、癌症患者以及免疫功能低下者风险更高，死亡率也更高。不幸的是，迄今为止尚无获批的治疗药物，这使得分诊管理和艰难的决策变得更加棘手。因此，在疫情期间，姑息治疗应大幅增加。不同护理环境中的姑息治疗服务可及性应有所提高。由于COVID-19病例激增，已有报道称姑息治疗如何被延迟、中断或被置于次要地位。
本研究旨在评估为非恶性疾病患者提供姑息治疗时所面临的障碍。
在研究了先前关于姑息治疗和大流行危机的工作后设计了一份问卷，并分发给内科医生、外科医生和住院医师；共有95名医护人员参与。调查通过邮件进行。然后对回复进行评估和分析。
从医护人员的回复中可以看出，主要问题是在此次大流行期间个人防护装备短缺。考虑到当前关于COVID-19的情况，患者首先害怕前往医院，即使他们来了，对孤独的恐惧也一直困扰着他们。患者最大的恐惧之一是孤独地死去，无法与亲人接触。
在任何人道主义危机中，包括COVID-19大流行，姑息治疗都应是任何医疗服务的重要组成部分。因此，应努力消除障碍，为患者提供姑息治疗。
