The government is allocating 150 million euros to increase awareness of palliative care and mental care at home. The quality and accessibility of palliative care must also be improved.
Pulmonologist Sander de Hosson of the Wilhelmina Hospital Assen has been committed to better palliative care for some time. “It’s fantastic news, because there is finally room to do important things, namely care for people who are no longer getting better. That can really be done a lot better.”
Palliative care is all about improving the quality of life in the last phase of a person’s life. “It is not just about alleviating physical suffering, but certainly also about psychological and social problems, such as informal care. 150 million is a large amount for palliative care, because a lot of money has never been spent on it. a step forward,” said De Hosson.
According to De Hosson, awareness is very important. “To think about the end of life in good time and to talk to each other, what I think is important and what I don’t think is important. There is still a lag. Our society focuses very much on treatments.”
De Hosson also thinks that money should be set aside to improve knowledge and skills among healthcare providers. “More training for nurses and doctors to make that care even better. It has changed in recent years, but it can really be better.”