Palliation and care at the end of life

As a social and health assistant you will meet people who are seriously ill or dying. Palliative care is about relieving suffering and creating quality of life when the disease can no longer be cured — and it is a task you share with nurses doctors and relatives.

The Danish Health Authority distinguishes in 'Recommendations for Palliative Care' (2017) between basic and specialized palliative care. Basic palliative care is provided by parts of the health service that do not have palliative care as their main task – for example, most hospital departments, municipalities and general practitioners. Specialized palliative care is provided by units that have palliative care as their core task, such as hospice and palliative teams. You will typically be involved in the basic effort, regardless of whether you work in home care, in a care home or in a hospital.

According to the National Board of Health, palliative care should be offered from the time of diagnosis to all patients and families affected by life-threatening illness — regardless of diagnosis. The goal is to create equal access to palliative care throughout the country and improve quality, particularly in basic care, which the vast majority of citizens encounter first.

• 01Relief of physical discomfort – pain, nausea, shortness of breath – in cooperation with nurse and doctor.
• 02Safety and presence when fear and uncertainty fill the citizen and their family.
• 03Practical care that preserves the citizen's dignity to the end.
• 04Support for relatives, who are often just as exposed as the citizen themselves.
• 05Observation and passing on changes so relief can be adjusted in time.

Many citizens and relatives need to talk about what matters — fear, unfinished things, or just being scared. You don't need to have answers to everything; listening and being present is care in itself. Be honest about what you yourself can answer, and what belongs with the nurse or doctor.

Palliative care doesn't stop at death. Last offices for the deceased and support to relatives in the hours after are part of the task, and the way a death is handled can mean much for the bereaved's grief process. Know your workplace's guidelines for what practically must happen and how and when relatives are contacted.

“When we can no longer heal, we can still ease suffering, and we can always be present.”