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Human-Rights, Ethical and Legal Issues in Palliative Care: A Guide for Patients and their Families

Care is about the patient. The best interests of the individual should be paramount. This means that the patient’s best interests are the primary consideration in all decision making about them. It also means that, as a patient, you are entitled to care based on good ethics; you have a right to receive adequate pain relief and symptom management, and should be treated with dignity and respect. Facing a life-threatening illness i.e. a disease with no cure is a difficult issue. It nevertheless requires each patient and their care providers to positively address the challenges that come with it. Together, the health care provider, the patient and their family members who are providing additional care make a great team in the patient’s overall care plan and therefore together can produce the desired outcomes of palliative care: a life of quality, and dignity in death. This booklet covers key issues that you might need to understand about ethical care, human rights and legal aspects. It aims to help people with serious illness as they face these issues, and give them guidance on how they can find solutions.

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Uploaded on: Mar 27, 2015
Last Updated: Dec 04, 2015


Resource Tags

Resource Type: Practitioner Resources Issues: Family, Generalist Legal Services, Health Tool Type: Manuals & Guides Method: Research Languages: English Regions: Sub-Saharan Africa