Abstract
According to the WHO guideline, palliative care is an integral component of COVID-19 management. The relief of physical symptoms and the provision of psychosocial support should be practiced by all healthcare workers caring for COVID-19 patients. In this review, we aim to provide a simple outline on COVID-19, suffering in COVID-19, and the role of palliative care in COVID-19. We also introduce 3 principles of palliative care that can serve as a guide for all healthcare workers caring for COVID-19 patients, which are (1) good symptom control, (2) open and sensitive communication, and (3) caring for the whole team. The pandemic has brought immense suffering, fear and death to people everywhere. The knowledge, skills and experiences from palliative care could be used to relieve the suffering of COVID-19 patients.
Highlights
Palliative care is the active holistic care of individuals with health-related suffering due to severe illness.[1]
The need of palliative care is not limited to cancer and chronic diseases, and to those who are critically ill, including patients with severe COVID-19.3-6 In this review, we aim to provide a simple outline on COVID-19, suffering in COVID-19, and the role of palliative care in COVID-19
Since evidence-based antiviral therapies remain lacking, supportive care has been the mainstay of COVID-19 management
Summary
Palliative care is the active holistic care of individuals with health-related suffering due to severe illness.[1] It aims to relieve suffering and improve quality of life.[2] The need of palliative care is not limited to cancer and chronic diseases, and to those who are critically ill, including patients with severe COVID-19.3-6 In this review, we aim to provide a simple outline on COVID-19, suffering in COVID-19, and the role of palliative care in COVID-19. Remdesivir and favipiravir target the viral phase; while antiinflammatory drugs such as dexamethasone, tocilizumab and baricitinib target the hyper-inflammatory phase.[10] only dexamethasone has been found to reduce mortality for severe and critical COVID-19 patients.[11] Since evidence-based antiviral therapies remain lacking, supportive care has been the mainstay of COVID-19 management
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