COVID-19, Suffering and Palliative Care: A Review

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.

Specialist Palliative Care Consultations in COVID-19 Patients in the ICU—A Retrospective Analysis of Patient Characteristics and Symptoms at a German University Hospital

“…Most therapeutic recommendations for COVID-19 therapy such as the WHO “Clinical management: living guidance” as well as PC-specific recommendations in the review by Beng and colleagues mainly focus on physical and mental symptom management [ 28 , 52 ]. However, our study used the MIDOS assessment at the beginning and end of sPC involvement.…”

“…In addition, some sPC units and hospices were closed [ 13 , 21 ]. The review articles summarize the rapid developing publications and statements on PC need and challenges in treating COVID-19 patients [ 25 , 26 , 27 , 28 ]. Moreover, sPC support within the ICU teams was addressed [ 29 ].…”

Cuidados paliativos, cuidados de fin de vida y COVID-19: revisión de alcance

“…Esto podría constituir una diferencia frente al resto de la población en cuidados paliativos, que refieren el dolor como uno de los síntomas más frecuentes 1 . Por su parte, se observa la importancia de la planificación avanzada de cuidados como una estrategia útil para la prestación de servicios 23 y que propende por el respeto de los deseos de los pacientes y sus familiares 27,28,[30][31][32][33][34] , consistente con otras revisiones 9,10 .…”

“…En Colombia se ha promovido la accesibilidad de estos servicios7, pero desde antes de la pandemia existían deficiencias en la prestación de cuidados paliativos4, las cuales se han exacerbado debido a la crisis sanitaria 8 . Otras revisiones han analizado el sufrimiento, la planificación de cuidados paliativos y cómo integrarlos durante la COVID-19 9,10 . No obstante, se desconoce la extensión de dicho tema en aspectos como el uso de herramientas digitales y el rol de enfermería.…”

Barriers to and facilitators of advance care planning implementation for medical staff after the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic: An overview of reviews

“…Following the screening process, 39 of the 996 identi ed studies were considered potential candidates for inclusion in the systematic review. Fourteen studies were excluded because they were not related to advance care planning (13,14,15,16,17,18,19,20,21,22,23,24,25,26). Additionally, 18 studies were excluded because they were different article types (27,28,29,30,31,32,33,34,35,36,37,38,39,40,41,42,43,44).…”