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Is there a Role of Palliative Care in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit in India?
Manjiri P Dighe1, Maryann A Muckaden, Swati A Manerkar
1Department of Palliative Care Medicine, Tata Memorial Centre, Mumbai, India.
Insights
Neonatal intensive care units (NICUs) face inevitable deaths. Palliative care can alleviate suffering for infants and families, but is currently lacking in Indian NICU settings.
Area of Science:
- Neonatal Medicine
- Palliative Care
- Healthcare Disparities
Background:
- Advances in neonatal care have increased survival rates for critically ill newborns.
- Despite improved survival, death remains a reality in neonatal intensive care units (NICUs).
- There is a recognized need to address the suffering of infants with poor prognoses and their families.
Purpose of the Study:
- To advocate for the implementation of palliative care within Indian NICU settings.
- To highlight the current absence of palliative care services in India.
- To build a case for integrating palliative care into neonatal intensive care.
Main Methods:
- This paper presents a conceptual argument and case for palliative care.
- It reviews the principles of palliative care and their applicability to neonates.
- It discusses the challenges and opportunities for palliative care in the Indian context.
Main Results:
- Palliative care is a multidisciplinary approach to relieving physical, psychosocial, and spiritual suffering.
- It is essential for infants in the NICU who are unlikely to survive.
- Current provision of palliative care in Indian NICUs is virtually non-existent.
Conclusions:
- Palliative care is crucial for improving the quality of life for neonates facing life-limiting conditions.
- Establishing palliative care in Indian NICUs is a necessary step to fulfill the duty of care.
- Further research and policy development are needed to integrate palliative care services effectively.
Abstract:
Recent advances in medical care have improved the survival of newborn babies born with various problems. Despite this death in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) is an inevitable reality. For babies who are not going to "get better," the health care team still has a duty to alleviate the physical suffering of the baby and to support the family. Palliative care is a multidisciplinary approach to relieve the physical, psycho social, and spiritual suffering of patients and their families. Palliative care provision in the Indian NICU settings is almost nonexistent at present. In this paper we attempt to "build a case" for palliative care in the Indian NICU setting.
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