Palliative care: Providing compassion in the face of life-limiting illness
Doctors spend a lot of time in when facing end-of-life or life-limiting care team members help determine
human body and various illnesses. overview of the supportive and wa nts a nd ne e ds, including
medical school learning about the
However, they don’t spend a lot of time
learning how to talk to people about
life and death.
“Death is not a medical problem to
be solved. It’s a spiritual problem to
be faced,” Robert L. Fine, M.D.,
clinical director for the Office of
Clinical Ethics and Palliative Care at
Baylor Scott & White Health,
reminded attendees at the most
recent Baylor Health Care System
Foundation board meeting.
During the meeting, Dr. Fine led a
discussion about how to best achieve
your goals and manage your fears
illnesses. He also provided an
palliative care team at Baylor Scott &
White, and explained how they go
beyond
advanced
medical
treatments and offer compassionate
a care plan that meets the patient’s
management of pain and other
symptoms, counseling and spiritual
support, and other therapies.
“End-of-life issues are complicated
care to help patients and their and delicate matters,” said Rowland
last chapter. He stressed the “In its simplest explanation, Dr. Fine
families cope when faced with life’s
importance of an interdisciplinary
team
of
physicians,
nurse
practitioners, chaplains, child life
specialists and social workers, who
K. Robinson, Foundation president.
and his team treat suffering in all
forms, including physical, emotional,
social and spiritual.”
Rowland and Dr. Fine tackled the
work collaboratively to provide these difficult topic by talking through
In addition to regular medical Dr. Fine would address and utilize
services across the system.
treatment, supportive and palliative
sample patient scenarios and how
palliative care for each. From a
“Death is not a medical problem to be solved.
It’s a spiritual problem to be faced.”
— Dr. Robert L. Fine
Dr. Robert Fine presents to the Foundation board
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