Clear Lake Area Chamber Of Commerce: Clear Lake Connections Podcast Episode 53 | Treating The Soul And The Mind.

Press release from the Clear Lake Area Chamber Of Commerce:

February 15, 2022

This week on Clear Lake Connections Podcast presented by UTMB Health: Meet Dr. Jose Mendoza, assistant professor of Palliative Medicine at UTMB. In this week’s episode, Dr. Mendoza discusses the work the Palliative care program does at UTMB and how their main goal is helping improve the quality of life of those with complex medical illnesses. Dr. Mendoza also shares how studies have shown that people live longer with Palliative care, how you can receive help after treatment, and how they can help you and your family manage your long term medical care goals.

Palliative Care is not hospice and hospice is not palliative care. They want to help and improve the quality of life of their patients who have an complex medical illness. A complex medical illness can be anything from cancer, severe heart disease or lung disease or any illness that is putting a lot of burden on quality of life or is making you uncomfortable and putting your family and loved ones uncomfortable as well.

They provide social workers and the medication. They want to treat the soul and the mind. They have chaplains and therapists as well. In summary, it is meant to improve the quality of life while you are dealing with this illness. They want to provide the best treatment as possible. Even if you still want to have care after treatment, they want to make sure you are completely better and can continue getting treatment. If your condition is terminal, they can provide comfort and make sure that you and your family do not have a lot of burden.

The level of care palliative care gives really helps because they provide hospice as well but usually refer it to other companies. UTMB currently  has a contract where they refer people to hospice companies. You can do palliative care at home, or you can come to their clinic, and they can help you manage your goals.

At the point where you would become a recommendation for this would be when a family doesn’t know what to do and you have a complex medical illness this is when you should reach out for help.

Even if you don’t have a lot of options there are still concerns for the patient and the family so they can provide the best care to give you less anxiety during this process. They can advocate for them to get hospice and they can help them go through the process every step of the way. Its all about making sure everyone involve is comfortable and they can provide the best care. As a palliative care provider, you should be a listener and make recommendations. Its about the living and how you can make their quality of life better.

The work they do is spectacular and they tend to be more attentive than other doctors. Dr. Mendoza wanted to be a palliative care doctor because he wanted to listen to his patients. Dr. Mendoza teaches and mentors at the hospital as well. He tries to teach them medical ethics as well. They are hoping in the future to do a fellowship so these people can stay in the community. Studies show that people who do palliative care and hospice live longer and better and they have better satisfaction in regards to the medical care as well.

This press release was produced by the Clear Lake Area Chamber Of Commerce. The views expressed here are the author’s own.