METHODOLOGY

In doing this project we had interviewed doctors,nurses and staffs that were actively involved
in palliative care.We interviewed Dr Fahisham Taib who was Palliative Care Specialist.He
explained about palliative care in Kelantan.We also interviewed nurse Nurul Adilla
Muhammad who was the nurse from YOKUK.She explained about her work that involved
dealing with disabled and terminally ill patients .Doctors from HOSPICE MALAYSIA were
also interviewed on how they operate and handled palliative care patients in Lembah Klang
area.
Demonstrations also was part of our methodology in doing this project.This was done during
house visiting and discussion with the palliative care team.We observed their method of
dealing with the patients.We also acquired extra knowledge in reading about palliative
care.We read journals,scientific publications and surf the internet about palliative care in
Malaysia.We also visited 2 NGOs that involved in palliative care.The NGOs was Yayasan
Orang Kurang Upaya Kelantan(YOKUK) in May 2013 and HOSPICE MALAYSIA in June
2013.We registered ourselves as volunteer at YOKUK.We took part at YOKUK recent
activities which is YOKUK`s SPORT DAY held on fifth (5) JUNE 2013.

ADVANTAGES OF PALLIATIVE CARE.

Palliative care serves as area of healthcare that relieve and prevent the suffering of
patients.Palliative medicine is suitable for for patients in all diseases stages whether it is
incurable or not.The main focus of palliative care is patients of chronic diseases and patients
who are nearing the end of their life.Palliative care team is made up of
physicians,nurses,pharmacist,social workers and volunteers.
Palliative care:

provides relief from pain, shortness of breath, nausea, and other distressing

symptoms;
affirms life and regards dying as a normal process;
intends neither to hasten nor to postpone death;
integrates the psychological and spiritual aspects of patient care;
offers a support system to help patients live as actively as possible;
offers a support system to help the family cope;
uses a team approach to address the needs of patients and their families;
will enhance quality of life;
is applicable early in the course of illness, in conjunction with other therapies that are
intended to prolong life, such as chemotherapy or radiation therapy.

While palliative care may seem to offer a broad range of services, the goals of palliative
treatment are concrete: relief from suffering, treatment of pain and other distressing
symptoms, psychological and spiritual care, a support system to help the individual live as
actively as possible, and a support system to sustain and rehabilitate the individual's family.
LIMITATION OF PALLIATIVE CARE

There were many limitations we faces upon completing our project.The first problems is
financial limitations.The current palliative care fund depends on charity work,donation by
individuals and corporations.This is not enough to cover palliative care expenditure that
comprises cost of medicine and medical equipment,training and education cost,staff
remuneration and general administration cost.The second problems is there is no official
centre for palliative care treatment in rural areas.This can be a problem for patients that live
in rural areas and have no access to the hospis.The third problem is lack of awareness among
healthcare providers the importance of palliative care.This is a common problem even in the
overseas.The society is also included because many of them especially the patients dont
realise there is palliative care treatment out there.They only knew during visits in hospitals
and if lucky the doctors will recommend palliative care to the patients.House visits also have
their limitations because some patients were not in their house at time of visits and some of
them were shy to express their problems during the visits.Many of the palliative care patients
also dont believe the effectiveness of palliative care.They thought that palliative care is
treatment to kill them or euthanasia.Some of the patients also turned to Bomoh for advises
and medication.