PALLIATIVE CARE AND HOSPICE

A gazebo or a resting corner by the lake where patients can rest and enjoy the quiet  surrounding and attended by volunteers who have come forward to give their services

FAMILIAR OR DO THEY RING THE BELL?

The two words weren't to me until I started writing this story and discovering some interesting and compounding background to it all. Surprisingly I never realized that 'hospice' is available in Malaysia. Of course not in the smaller cities but the services are afforded  at Kuala Lumpur, Kuching and Kota Kinabalu etc. with reference to the web.

Now! What is 'palliative care'? Admittedly it's new at least here. It has taken us on a short trip to Australia and especially to Canberra ACT to know about it. That too since we were visiting a close friend who is being attended for 'cancer' by her physician thus helping us to realize the services given by  'hospice' and 'palliative care'. Both words refer specifically to cancer and cancer care. Be that as it may, it has enriched us and made us aware of such services and their availability in all countries including Malaysia.

Playground for the youngsters who come to see their elders. There are also jogging tracks by the lakes for those who care to  exercise.

It is paramount that we learn about them less we may not be able to help the needy or sick when such important or crucial service is required. Likewise surely without visiting hospitals, we too may not know the full extensions of its services and being updated with facilities available. 

Cancer cries out in newspapers, magazines, electronic media etc.People suffer in silence, arrested by its calamity and only to be told of its implications by specialists and physicians. Its seriousness depended in degrees and stages. I am not about to focus on this but more on the two terminologies above and of what we saw during our visit to Clare Holland Home, a palliative care centre at Calvary in Canberra. Opportunities come to us in many forms, yet this one has to take us out of the country.

            Facilities for bbq and enjoying valuable time with the patient or resident at the home  

Palliative care is defined as a concept for patients living with advanced incurable cancer. The word is derived from Latin 'pallium' meaning 'cloak' or 'mask' and the aim would be to cover or mask the distressing pain symptoms associated  with advanced cancer and improving the quality of life for the patients and the family. Easier said than done for caring for the sick as anyone knows is no easy task. Any patient or family that gets to be cared at a hospice like the one we visited can be grateful. Its facilities and services promised the full task as offered. What more it is free of charge.

Built on a location next to a lake providing a serene and peaceful calm with facilities you would expect of a hotel or an exclusive home, any patient would be happy to be cared there more so when family members can be around to assist and help. The two reference below will assist:

http://www.normah,com.my/aboutus.location

http://www.hospismalaysia.org/

The hospice by the lake at Calvary Canberra

            An interior view of one of the room for the resident equipped with the necessary facilities

A parting look at Clare Holland Home for palliative care will help to show directions where hospice has progressed and heading. As much as our hospitalization benefits and services have progressed, continuing programs  in health care and medical services will move forward. Improved facilities and changes in other parts of the world help to provide us better medical and health care. In one instance recently Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad commented in his blog of the hospital service at home when he was discharged from the hospital in Melbourne. He alluded to such a service that comes with a developed status of a country. Malaysia too is on its way to reach for that status. Then we will be glad to enjoy the facilities.

At Clare Holland Home Calvary Canberra ACT down under two days before the count down for 2011 while visiting a friend and his family