Palliative Care in Russia: Condition and Problems

Abstract

In this article, the key problems of palliative care in Russia are considered. The introduction substantiates the relevance of studying the current state of palliative care in Russia and around the world. The author provides a generalized description of the number of seriously ill patients: both those in need of palliative care, and those receiving it. The author focuses on the growth in the number of people requiring palliative care with a simultaneous shortage of doctors working in palliative medicine. Based on the study of regulations governing the educational process and professional activities of medical staff, it has been established that the status of palliative care doctors has legal uncertainty, which raises the problem of the actual lack of specialists in palliative care in the country. It was noted that palliative care in Russia is provided by practicing doctors of other specializations, social workers and volunteers. The article describes some of the challenges that medics face when working with palliative care patients. The problems of lack of protection of the rights of medics facing pain and other painful syndromes, as well as the issue of inappropriate distribution of financial flows in palliative care, are revealed. The idea that palliative care is becoming economically beneficial for the state with proper organization is justified. The author concludes that palliative care should be multi-disciplinary, and accessible to everyone who needs it.

Keywords

• palliative care
• availability of palliative care
• health care
• medicine
• oncology