The palliative medical care of seriously ill and dying people is a great challenge for society, but also for each one of us. Not everything that is medically possible is meaningful and appropriate for an individual patient.
That is what matters: finding and offering appropriate care. The decisive question is not whether something is right or wrong in the abstract, but whether the patient benefits from it subjectively. We must be clear that we have to speak with the patient at eye level. The patient is the expert of our therapy.
To believe that we can reach and help every person in their pain would be presumptuous. But not even trying would be much worse. We must therefore keep finding out what is good and important for the patient. We must understand. Understand him or her. Only then can we provide meaningful treatment.
Talking with one another is crucial in care. But listening is just as important. When a person feels heard, they can speak more freely about their fears and worries. They feel perceived. Ultimately, Palliative Care is more than training and qualification. Palliative Care is above all an attitude.
