The Mário Penna Institute, through the National Oncology Care Support Program (PRONON), started at the end of 2020 the Palliative Care Service (SCP), which aims to boost the organization and development of Palliative Care in the institution and in Brazil.
IMP’s Palliative Care Service works in a multidisciplinary way, with the work of doctors, nurses, social workers, psychologists and physiotherapists. Specialists from different areas work together to ensure that patients with serious and life-threatening illnesses are treated comprehensively in the various dimensions of suffering (physical, psychological, social and spiritual), always aiming at quality of life and respecting people’s values answered.
“We understand that in addition to patients, family members, friends and caregivers also suffer in the context of illness and must be welcomed and respected. They have a special place in the Palliative Care Service”; emphasizes Graziella Eugênio Tocafundo, Coordinating Nurse of the Palliative Care Service at IMP.
The appointments take place at the Hospital Luxemburgo, in the inpatient unit, when requested by the assistant teams, and in the offices of the Center for Oncological Specialties (NEP).
Graziella also explains that the Ministry of Health regulates the provision of Palliative Care as part of continuous care integrated within the scope of the Unified Health System (SUS), which is a right for every citizen affected by a life-threatening disease, whether acute or chronic .