CANCELLED: Incorporating Palliative and Hospice Care Into Your Practice

In human medicine, when a life-ending diagnosis is made, the conventional default has been to treat and prolong life, but with the help of palliative care and hospice specialists, there are now options on how “the end will be”. Palliative and hospice care are often misunderstood by the general public who often believe hospice is “a place” and means “giving up”. The real goal is living well during the time that is left. Veterinarians have historically provided many of the now defined components of palliative and hospice care, including pain management and other components of comfort care, to their patients. Incorporating palliative and hospice care into your practice provides a service for this special population and their caregivers. An important concept is understanding the “care unit” and how the entire veterinary team and caregiver can work together. Care includes the pet but also support for owners caring for their pet and helping them make decisions. At the heart of care is promoting a good quality of life and ethical decision making. A 5-step process that serves as a foundation to help the veterinary team implement a consistently effective hospice and palliative care treatment plan will be described.