Introduction
The article by Tavares et al. (2021) addresses the impact of COVID-19 on palliative care. The authors note that all aspects of healthcare were affected by the pandemic, and palliative care was not exempted. The primary challenge healthcare providers experienced during the period is the focus of the qualitative study that takes the perspectives of healthcare professionals working in a palliative care unit. The participants suggested interventions that should be adopted to resolve identified issues. There were fourteen participants in the study, and the authors used content analysis to assess the collected descriptive data. The article is a review of the issues that were experienced during the provision of palliative care to patients and suggested solutions that are provided by participants regarding the identified challenges.
Discussion
The study’s outcomes revealed five primary challenges in providing palliative care, and the participants suggested two strategies. The first challenge is that COVID-19 has changed the relationship between patients and healthcare providers (Tavares et al., 2019). Care providers were limited in their methods to promote dignity, which altered the relationships they had built with their patients. The second challenge was the change in the relationship between family members and care providers (Tavares et al., 2019). Participants noted that limitations on the number of visits that family members could make to palliative patients affected established relationships by complicating the grieving process and compromising support from the family. Thirdly, COVID-19 altered communication between patients and their family members (Tavares et al., 2019). The measures implemented made patients and family members share most of the information through phones and adopted personal protective equipment during unique visits, which altered verbal and non-verbal communication. These factors created a physical barrier between family members and created the perception of abandonment and distance among patients, which affected care provision.
The fourth impact of the pandemic was the change in the working dynamics in palliative care units. COVID-19 led to the admission of palliative patients into the respiratory, altered the palliative care team through the reallocation of providers to COVID wards, and affected data collection and patient observation. The altered working dynamics increased the time professionals took to control symptoms for palliative patients, revealed the lack of sufficient procedures and protocols, reduced the number of palliative care professionals, compromised control of symptoms, and increased the risk of burnout (Tavares et al., 2019). The last challenge the study identified was the alterations in healthcare resources that emerged from the fear of using healthcare services due to COVID-19. The final issue identified in the study was compromised symptom control which led to late diagnoses and affected the provision of palliative care.
The participants highlighted two primary intervention categories that can address the identified issues. The first section is interventions that address the relationship between the patient and family members (Tavares et al., 2019). Suggestions include effective communication methods and measures that could help the patients and their family members address any negative emotions that emerged from the implemented changes. The second category is strategies that address healthcare professionals (Tavares et al., 2019). They include measures to improve their well-being and methods to improve control of the impacts of the pandemic and improve communication.
Conclusion
The article is relevant to hospice care because it identifies key areas that can help to improve care for professionals. The article recognizes the importance of relationships in palliative care that could help improve the outcomes of patients. Relationships are essential to palliative patients and ensuring the maintenance of positive and healthy relationships between patients, family members, and care providers is crucial in the care and can help to enhance patient outcomes. The article is relevant because it highlights the need for more care providers in palliative care and better skills to address health issues that can emerge in the unit. Having sufficient professionals with the relevant skills is vital in achieving positive outcomes.
Reference
Tavares, P., Rodrigues, C., & Neto, I. G. (2021). The Impact of COVID-19 on Palliative Care: Perspective of Healthcare Professionals. Cureus, 13(11). Web.