Intervenciones para los cuidadores familiares de personas en cuidado paliativo

Abstract

In health care careers, both in Colombia and Latin America, there is very little training on the evaluation and management of patients in pain medicine and palliative care, despite its wide prevalence in the general population. Hence, this book was conceived as interdisciplinary, with its focus of attention on the patient-family-caregiver unit. Thus, it contextualizes the situation of palliative care in the region and the world while addressing fundamental aspects of neurobiology, pharmacology, and comprehensive assessment. Similarly, it offers management guidelines on the most prevalent pathologies in chronic pain, symptom management in palliative care for specific problems, and a psychosocial approach to patients, families, and caregivers. In addition, the book addresses issues of decision making in palliative care, as well as its ethical and legal implications—a relevant topic these days. The authors hope to encourage and support the creation of interdisciplinary pain medicine and palliative care intervention teams in the regions that most lack these resources, as well as to provide bioethics committees, legal health areas, and patient associations with a perspective on this fundamental issue in their daily work.