Changing times for psychosocial care at the end of life

Taking advantage of the celebration of the International Day of Palliative Care, the Psychosocial Care Team (EAPS) would like to reflect on the current situation of palliative care.  This reflection is especially important in a year with as many social and health changes as 2021. These include last year's reformulation of the WHO definition of palliative care, which now reads as follows:

 “Palliative care is an approach that improves the quality of life of patients (adults and children) and their relatives when they are facing problems inherent to a life-threatening illness.  It prevents and alleviates suffering through the early identification, correct assessment and treatment of pain and other problems, whether physical, psychosocial or spiritual.”

On the other hand, the main agent of change, the COVID-19 pandemic, drastically changed the healthcare map as it was accompanied by a considerable increase in new situations of serious illness and end of life. 

Our EAPS adapted the psychosocial care service so that, in 2020, we were able to attend to a total of 126 people affected by the new disease, including patients, family members and bereaved people. In addition, from this service we developed extensive support documentation and collaborated in two scientific articles on COVID-19. 

One of the consequences of the pandemic has been its impact on homes for the elderly. The impact on these social and healthcare centres has been of such magnitude that they have been the object of attention for the whole of society, making visible the deficiency of an eminently institutional model, as well as the need for resources, also in terms of psychosocial care.

Matia Fundazioa and the EAPS responded to this crisis by developing a professional support service in six of the Foundation's residences. In this way, a total of 29 sessions were carried out to alleviate the emotional burden of the workers, as well as to offer training in aspects related to end-of-life care. Subsequently, the "la Caixa" Foundation took up this need and extended the Programme of Comprehensive Care for People with Advanced Illnesses to offer psychosocial care to people with palliative needs in the residences. Thus, since April this year, the psychologist Nerea Manterola has been attending to residents, their relatives and bereaved people in five Matia Fundazioa centres.  

Below, you can watch an interview with this professional in which she describes how this new service works.

Another novelty this year is that the entire healthcare world has been affected by the Euthanasia Regulation Law that has been in force in Spain since June 2021. We will have to see how it influences clinical practice in different areas. 

However, today, as we mark the celebration of World Palliative Care Day, it is important to emphasise that palliative services in Spain have yet to be developed, since, at present, not all people with palliative needs have access to this end-of-life care. In other words, we are not alleviating all the avoidable suffering of people with advanced chronic illnesses, so that, regardless of other social developments, we must continue to place emphasis on achieving this goal for the well-being of all.