The goal of palliative care is to relieve the pain, symptoms and stress of serious illness, regardless of the eventual outcome. Services include clarifying goals of care, helping to manage difficult symptoms, smoothing transitions across the continuum of care and improving the quality of living and dying.
“We were very excited at how many healthcare professionals from the Southern California healthcare community came to learn more about this important topic,†said Tish Starbuck, Vice President of Mission and Ethics at Saint John’s Health Center. “The program helped to initiate culturally sensitive and timely conversation about advance care directives and end-of-life issues with patients and families.â€
In addition to the Saint John’s physicians and staff, the conference was attended by representatives from Santa Monica Convalescent Center, Sheridan Care-In Home Health Care, Pacific Convalescent Center, VA West LA Medical Center (Veteran’s Integrated Palliative Program), Seaport 17th Care Center, Providence Trinity Care Hospice, Best Care Southern California Home Health, Hospice Partners of Southern California, Los Angeles Hospice, Brotman Medical Center, UCLA—Ronald Reagan Medical Center, Hoag Presbyterian Health Center and the Southern California Bioethics Committees Consortium.
Speakers included Steven Z. Pantilat, MD, FACP, the Alan M. Kates and John M. Burnard Endowed Chair in Palliative Care and Director of the University of California, San Francisco’s Palliative Care Program and Palliative Care Leadership Center; Babak Roozrokh, MD, Medical Director of Palliative Care at Saint John’s; Poonam Bhatla, Los Angeles POLST Liaison, the Coalition of Compassionate Care of California (CCCC) and Consultant, Advance Health Care Directives & POLST, Teresa Fan, PharmD, Saint John’s Pain Management and Palliative Care Pharmacist; and Geri-Ann Galanti, PhD, Medical Anthropologist and Lecturer for the Department of Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA. This program was generously supported by Saint John’s Health Center Foundation through donations from the Joanne Marie and Marcel George Foundation and Marjorie and Jack Gorby.
“Saint John’s Palliative Care team provides consultations for patients with serious and often progressive illness,†Starbuck explained. “When facing serious illness, patients want more than just relief from the pain. Having physicians and nurses knowledgeable about palliative care is pivotal to helping patients.â€
The Palliative Care Team includes physicians, nurses, a pain management pharmacist, social workers, chaplains, a speech pathologist, and other professionals participating in the patient’s care. They partner with the patient’s primary care physician to manage symptoms and help patients retain or regain as much control over their lives as possible.
Palliative care helps patients better understand their conditions and the choices they have for care. Having this information, and knowing that the team is there to help, improves patients’ ability to tolerate medical treatments or make better-informed decisions about the kind of care they are willing to accept. Family caregivers who may be overwhelmed will also benefit from the family centered care that is provided.
For information on Saint Johns Health Center: www.stjohns.org