Abstrakt

The importance of quality indicators for evaluation of palliative care services

Loreta Rasute Rezgiene

Palliative care is a complex of measures for improving the quality of life of people with a chronic progressive illness and their relatives. Lithuania is one of the major emerging economies of the Eastern Europe with inherent transformations in changing society. The increasing average future life expectancy, aging population, growing number of chronic non-communicable diseases and even the advancement of medical technology require a different approach from the health service providers towards palliative care services, the development of a completely new perspective towards the sick and dying, as well aspractical provision of comprehensive and high-quality health care for the patient and his / her family until the dying day and care for the family during the period of mourning. Palliative care in Lithuania is an integral part of the national health care system with the developed palliative care strategy. However, the statistics on the incidence of palliative care services for patients suffering from severe incurable progressive diseases show that it is underappreciated and lacking funding as well as proper training, adequate education and information about palliative care for health care professionals and the public. Very few individual elements of palliative care exist and are attributable to the primary personal health care, i.e. family doctor’s institution and nursing hospitals. Therapeutic medicine can be of limited help for patients with chronic progressive disease which makes it especially important to provide them with a better quality of life for as long as possible.