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Working
together under the 'Tempus Project' the
Universities of Florence, Lyon, Belgrade
and Zagreb organised educational
activities in the field of pain and
palliative medicine. This project had
three stages: theoretical, practical and
e-learning. The theoretical stage was
done in five two-day modules between
February and June 2008 in Belgrade and
Zagreb. There was then the opportunity
for 15 of the participants to attend the
practical stage in Italy and France.
 During
this stage in Florence, Crema and Lyon,
we were able to see how palliative care
is organised in these cities. We also
recognised the different types of
specialised palliative care services
that they are providing, from
out-patient clinics through to home care
teams as well as highly specialised
in-patient hospices.
Due to this
kind of hospice organisation, a
significant number of patients are being
cared for in their homes. Usually it is
a GP that refers patients to the hospice
home-care teams and along with the
patient's family, care for the patient.
In the period where symptoms worsen, the
patient can be admitted to the
in-patient hospice facility, usually for
10 to 15 days.
Somthin I
found of particular interest was that
the implementation of subcutaneous
therapy that also includes subcutaneous
rehydration when necessary was of
increasing comfort to the patient. I was
very impressed with the fact that this
type of hospice organisation not only
provides the quality medical and
psychological support for the patient
and their family, but also helps in
every day necessities through the
provision of additional equipment such
as hospital beds, anti-decubital
mattresses etc. that families are
returning back when not needed any more.
As everywhere in the world, all the
services of palliative care are free of
charge for the patients.
In Serbia,
we still have palliative medicine in the
beginnings phases here and I hope that,
through the implementation of positive
experiences from England and other
countries that have already successfully
accepted the concept of hospice care, we
will be able to do more for our patients
and their families. |
