The expert spoke about the problems of palliative services in Russia

In Russian regions, visiting palliative services often operate only formally, Anastasia Zhdanova, program director of the Popular Front's Region of Care project, told Izvestia. They appear in reports, but do not exist in reality.

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At the same time, the availability of on-site palliative care is very important: patients in need of it should live at home or, if this is not possible, in inpatient social care organizations, and not occupy a place in the palliative care system. However, palliative beds are often used for social purposes: for example, elderly people are hospitalized after a stroke who are not provided with home care, but are in stable condition, the expert explained.

The work on patient separation has already been carried out in Moscow, she noted. However, the burden on the palliative care facility remained high.

"This means that there are a lot of people who really need palliative medicine. Having created the hospice infrastructure, we must ensure very carefully that it is used correctly and that it is truly accessible to those who need palliative care," the editorial board's interlocutor urged.

Read more in the Izvestia article:

Lack of care: why there are not enough doctors in hospices

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