What is supporting care? | OSF support care blog

Note of the editorial staff: The month of November being the national month of home care and the hospice, our editorial team estimated that it was important to take a minute and return to the bases “for those who do not really know what the term” support care “means. The following post is our way of launching the month, so take advantage of it!

What does my doctor mean when he says I should have “support care”?

Different organizations have different ways to use the term “support care”. In the past, doctors spoke of supporting a patient’s vital functions, but did not try to cure them, as support measures.

This use has fallen into disgrace, and now the term “support care” generally means that a patient’s symptoms are evaluated and managed, and that their care objectives are sought and used to guide the treatment plan.

If I receive “support care”, I abandon?

No, absolutely not! Support treatments are given at the same time as routine medical care. Support treatments simply mean that the objective of treatment is what is important with the patient.

Sometimes this means that aggressive measures are no longer part of the plan. Sometimes this means that a patient is ready to go into palliative care. Sometimes they still get very aggressive medical interventions.

So what really does support do?

So often in health care, we do things because that’s what we have always done. Someone has a particular condition, so we do “x” and use “Y” medicine. Although these interventions are always possible, in support care, we focus on the patient’s symptoms, how they feel.

Are they bad? Or depressed? Or anxious? Are they well informed of what is wrong and their options? And what happens if they choose a certain course? Is the family aware? Has anyone designated to make decisions if the patient cannot?

Isn’t that just good medical care?

These are all things that look like good medicine and they are. The reality of medicine today is that they are not always maintained in the way doctors and nurses would like, for various reasons.

In these cases, support care helps. In fact, support care should start at the start of care and become a more important goal as an empire chronic disease. This happens alongside everything we do in medicine.

Who provides support care?

Sometimes support treatments mean a palliative care consultation of a specialized team. Sometimes it is a conversation on future care, which we call the planning of advanced care. Sometimes that’s what your usual doctor or supplier does, and sometimes he needs help.

Support treatments – The essentials

The main thing is that … Support care is a special type of care provided to patients and their families faced with a serious illness. It provides an additional layer of support for the care team and is provided with usual treatment.

Support care has been shown to help patients have fewer symptoms and improve more quickly, paying attention to these aspects of their care. Who wouldn’t want that?

Last update: October 26, 2017