Maja Ebert Moltara
Oncology Institute of Ljubljana, Ljubljana
Slovenia
Project »Butterfly«
A provision of palliative care information for patient and caregiver in the national language
Background
Positive aspects of palliative care in Slovenia are not well recognised among professionals and in the general population. Up until now, there was almost no written information available for public (general population) in our national language about palliative care.
Aims
To prepare written information about palliative care for patients and their caregivers in our national language.
Methods
A multi-professional group involved in daily palliative care work have prepared a list of topics that could help patients and caregivers during palliative care. We have invited several professionals from different health institutions across the country to contribute their knowledge and experiences to the project.
Results
42 professionals from 15 different health institutions (8 hospitals, several primary care providers and professors at medical school, a hospice) have been collaborating in the project. The majority of information provided had been written by physicians with several other professionals included: 12 nurses, 5 social workers, 2 psychologists, 2 spiritual providers, 1 physiotherapist. We have prepared 20 different topics that cover the most common physical symptoms (pain, sub-cutaneous pump, dyspnoea, nausea/vomiting, delirium, fatigue, loss of appetite, constipation), nursing support (patient hygiene, ulcer prevention, lymphedema, dry mouth), psychological problems (child/teenager close to palliative patient, self-care for caregivers, how to talk to a patient), social questions (home care, institutional help), spiritual support, last days of life.
Conclusion
All 20 flyers were printed and distributed to all health institutions as a part of the World Palliative Care and Hospice Day 2014. For this purpose a new web page was designed www.paliativnaoskrba.si where all materials are published with some additional information.