The Role of Family Medicine in Palliative Care

Abstract

Introduction: Brazil is among the countries in which life expectancy has increased considerably in recent decades, with an increasing proportion of people over 60 years of age, and in this context palliative care in Primary Health Care (PHC) is a health need. Factors such as advanced age or the presence of chronic-degenerative non-communicable diseases elect the patient to receive palliative care, since they provide pain minimization and bring more quality of life to the patient and family. However, the Brazilian reality regarding the postgraduate training of Family Physicians, the main medical specialty of PHC, still needs expansion and more qualification to meet this growing need. The lack of public health policies and a constant review of the academic curriculum are issues to be discussed, aiming at the search for a more qualified training for the future Family Doctor. Method: Study developed through traditional exploratory narrative bibliographic review. Results: There is a need to train more Family Doctors to assist elected officials to receive palliative care, in parallel, we need to work for the creation of new public health policies, together with the constant review of the disciplines that make up the academic curriculum. The experience and knowledge, initially through the internships, will add to the formation of the Family Doctor, leading him to perform his activities with Primary Health Care, through palliative care, properly. Final Considerations and Conclusion: Currently, the human resources we have are few and there is urgency for a review in the academic curriculum, as well as in the structure of Primary Health Care to offer palliative care, bringing dignity to the patient at the end of life. The fastest way to bring palliative care to all elected patients is through the creation of consistent public health policies.