Palliative care: challenges for caregivers and health care providers

The palliative care (PC) aims at humanization of care, at the decrease of suffering and at the preservation of the family and patient’s quality of life during his terminal illness. The objectives were to get to know the discourses and practices regarding PC and the difficulties related to the activities of this kind of care. The method was quanti-qualitative. The participants were health care providers and NON-professional caregivers (N=59) from two hospitals in Campina Grande- PB. The instruments were: a questionnaire and an interview. The analysis of information was oriented by the analysis of enunciation. The analysis of discourses has shown that PC is understood as practices towards pain relief, as support to the patient’s family and finally, as the use of medications. There are doubts concerning psychologists’ performances regarding PC, even if correlate practices are done. This study was relevant because it will be able to indicate public policies concerning the increase of people’s quality of life with terminal illnesses.

姑息治疗（Palliative Care，简称PC）旨在实现照护的人性化，减轻患者痛苦，并在患者罹患终末期疾病期间，维持患者及其家属的生活质量。本研究旨在探明姑息治疗相关的话语体系与实践模式，以及此类照护活动面临的各类困境。本研究采用定量与定性相结合的混合研究方法。研究对象为来自巴西帕拉伊巴州坎皮纳格兰德市两家医院的医疗服务提供者与非专业照护者，共计59名。研究工具包括问卷与访谈两种形式。本研究以表述分析法为指导开展资料分析。话语分析结果显示，受访者将PC理解为缓解疼痛的实践举措、对患者家属的支持措施，以及药物使用手段。尽管已开展相关实践，但人们对心理学家在PC领域的履职表现仍存在疑虑。本研究具有重要的现实意义，可为制定针对终末期疾病患者生活质量提升的公共政策提供参考依据。