Palliative Care during COVID-19 Pandemic: Practical Recommendations from Literature Evidence

Abstract COVID-19 patients incidence rate is constantly expanding worldwide and the risk of mortality is extremely high among elderly population and those with acute or cronic disease and comorbidities. The pandemic caused by the SARS-CoV-2 virus has strongly affected the functioning of healthcare networks around the world and changed many palliative care units in healthcare institutions into covid patients treatment units. Palliative care in many countries has insufficient number of resources and suitable legal and regulatory frameworks in order to guarantee the integration in the system in pandemic. Palliative care deals with the ways to prevent diseases and how to treat some serious medical sequeae resulting from any kind of disease that in a serious way affects the quality of life. The basic postulate of palliative treatment include providing immediate decrease or complete elimination of somatic symptoms, providing support psychological, spiritual and ensuring empathic care for both the patient and the family. They all have come into focus during a pandemic. Grown-ups and children requiring palliative care, especially in low and countries with lower-middle income, oftentimes have to face with difficulties and problems in approaching necessary services. Society has recognized their vulnerability during COVID-19 pandemic. The situation has been aggravated by their incompetence to have an approach to all necessary health accomodation, treatments, drugs and backing to manage hazardous diseases and medical agony. For all the above, palliative care is to be consolidated into national and international plans in response to COVID-19. It is expected that pandemic due to COVID-19 will be a longlasting health problem, which emphaises the necessity to simultaneously health care for patients sensitive to COVID-19 and other patients. This obliges the medical professionals to constantly increase their knowledge by searching, relevant literature and applying practical recommendations and guidelines.