Integrating palliative care in heart failure: A review article

Abstract

Millions of people have heart failure around world. Despite the advances in the care, heart failure has a poor prognosis. Palliative care offers patients a care which achieves symptom control with good quality of life. Palliative care is usually identified with cancer patients but individuals with heart failure also need palliative care. According to the World Health Organization, palliative care is needed mostly by patients with cardiovascular conditions followed by cancer patients. Patients with heart failure suffer from several symptoms, they have poor quality of life and it is difficult to estimate the course of their disease. Patients with heart failure, however, do not receive enough palliative care. Patients with heart failure should have palliative care integrated to their care to ensure that they receive palliative care services. The present study investigated palliative care models offered to patients with heart failures, and examined their outcomes. Several studies have found that heart failure patients who receive palliative care had better symptom management and quality of life and reduced hospitalizations.