Opinion: Palliative psychiatry offers a new path for some people with serious mental illness
Palliative psychiatry is a compassionate approach that acknowledges the limits of current treatment for some patients and offers them better quality of life.
The Canadian surgeon and urologist Balfour Mount is considered the father of palliative care in North America. He was inspired and mentored by Cicely Saunders, a British nurse and social worker. Before she became a physician, Saunders developed the first modern hospice, St Christopher’s in London in 1967. Mount adapted and transplanted approaches to the care of the terminally ill he had learned at St Christopher’s to the Royal Victoria Hospital in Montreal.
Palliative care is based on Saunders’ concept of “total pain,” which says that while suffering may be based on the underlying disease, the pain associated with it can have psychosocial, existential, and spiritual dimensions. The main objective of palliative care is to maximize the patient’s comfort and quality of life by effectively controlling symptoms, especially pain, while providing psychological and spiritual support. Palliative care is gaining traction in the United States and is used in the care of patients with cancer, stroke, kidney failure, and other terminal medical conditions.
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