Our Focus is on You
You've been diagnosed with cancer. Does that mean life should
now completely revolve around medication and medical treatment? Not
according to the Palliative Care Team at the Joan Karnell Cancer Center
at Pennsylvania Hospital.With the only program of this kind in Philadelphia,
the Karnell Cancer Center's doctors, nurses and caregivers from
all walks of life are combining forces to not only offer you the best
possible medical treatment but also help you attain the best possible
quality of life.
“Palliative care is a very holistic approach,” says David
Mintzer, MD, Medical Director of the Palliative
Care Program at the Cancer Center. “As medicine becomes
more technologically advanced, it tends to move away from focusing
on the complete patient. Palliative care brings the focus back to
the entire patient not just the disease.”
This notion of focusing on the whole patient is part of a general,
national trend in health care toward providing patients relief from
pain and suffering throughout the entire course of a disease. The
roots of palliative care originated in nursing and pain management
and have since spread to medical institutions around the country. “The
goal is to provide some type of symptomatic relief for patients no
matter where they are in the course of medical treatment. The first
step is recognizing a patient's need,” says Dr. Mintzer.
Palliative Care, in fact, is often introduced at the time of diagnosis.“If
the patient is willing, I like to meet with him or her and discuss
the program,” says Kia Witherspoon, MSN, CRNP and Palliative
Care Nurse Practitioner. “It's important to realize that
palliative care is not hospice care.We're trying to help patients
put some normalcy back into their lives and help alleviate whatever
pain they might be experiencing, whether its physical, emotional or
psychological.”
Funded by a three-year grant from the Betz Foundation, the Joan Karnell
Cancer Center's innovative, out-patient based program offers
a variety of services including: pain and symptom management, psychological
support, patient and family education, social work counseling, nutritional
counseling, spiritual counseling, support groups, rehabilitation,
music therapy, shiatsu bodywork, art therapy and bereavement counseling.You
can be enrolled in any aspect of the Palliative Care Program at any
time, depending on your symptoms and needs.
The Palliative Care team meets weekly to discuss patients' needs.“We
sit down as a group to discuss what we can do to make a patient's
life better,” says Kia. The team also works closely with your
oncologist so that both your medical and palliative care treatment
work in tandem with one another. Recognizing that cancer affects the
entire family, support for your family and caregivers is another essential
element of the program.
For more information about the Palliative Care Program, call 1-800-789-PENN
(7366). You can also request an appointment
online.
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