HYBRID EVENT: You can participate in person at Rome, Italy or Virtually from your home or work.

3rd Edition of International Heart Congress

June 05-07,2025 | Hybrid Event

June 05 -07, 2025 | Rome, Italy
Heart Congress 2024

Integration of palliative care for patients with Congestive Heart Failure (CHF)

Helen Senderovich, Speaker at Cardiovascular Conference
Baycrest Health Sciences, Canada
Title : Integration of palliative care for patients with Congestive Heart Failure (CHF)

Abstract:

Introduction: Congestive heart failure (CHF) is an increasingly prevalent terminal illness in a globally aging population. Despite optimal medical management, prognosis remains poor – a fact seldom communicated to patients and/or their families.  Evidence suggests numerous benefits of palliative care consultation in advanced CHF but to date, their services remain woefully underutilized.
Objectives: To identify specific challenges to accessing and implementing palliative care in patients with advanced CHF, and to use this information to formulate recommendations for practice.
Methods: Literature review whereby recommendations for practice were formulated on the basis of primary quantitative/qualitative data and consensus expert opinion.
Results: Accessing palliative care services for patients with CHF remains a challenge for numerous factors including prognostic uncertainty, misconceptions about what palliative care is, and difficulty recognizing when a patient is suitable for referral.  Strategies to improve access/delivery of palliative care to this population include education and proper discussion about prognosis/goals of care. A team-based approach is essential as we move towards a model where symptom palliation exists concurrently with active medical disease-modifying treatment.
Conclusion: Despite evidence that palliative care has a role in improving symptom control and overall quality of life in patients with end-stage CHF, a multitude of challenges exist and this ultimately hinders access to palliative care services. Education to abolish pre-existing misconceptions about the role of palliative care and a movement towards a team-based approach focused on simultaneous palliative and traditional medical care will undoubtedly improve access to, and benefit from, palliative care services in this population.

Biography:

Dr. Senderovich is a physician with practice focused on Geriatrics, Palliative Care, and Pain Medicine. She is actively involved in teaching medical students and residents. She has broad international experience and a solid research background. Her research was accepted nationally and internationally. She has been involved in collaborative work to improve access to palliative care at the international level. She is an author of multiple manuscripts focused on geriatrics, pain management, patient-centered care, ethical and legal aspect of doctor -patient relationship, palliative and end-of-life care.

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