Annual Reports

Helpful Links

What is palliative care?
Stories: Patients share their stories with palliative care
Atlas of Palliative Care in the Eastern Mediterranean
Caring Connections provides people with information and support when they are planning ahead, caring for a loved one, living with an illness or grieving a loss.
The World Health Organization (WHO) presents important information about cancer, its prevention, detection, and treatment in addition to palliative care.
The American Cancer Society serves as a resource for patients and their caregivers as well as their healthcare providers to know more about several matters related to cancer and its management.
Palliative Care Network provides a platform for Palliative Care Professionals to teach, interact, and exchange ideas with fellow colleagues in places around the world where the knowledge gap is wider than the technology gap.
Film Guides for Carers: This series of films was produced by Marie Curie Cancer Care to give practical instructions to people caring for someone who is weak and bedridden. Short films on bathing a loved one in bed, moving them in bed and helping them get comfortable provide helpful advice that is easy to follow. (From Marie Curie Cancer Care)
Managing Symptoms: This website offers information on managing symptoms that are commonly seen in the last few weeks or months of life such as pain, loss of appetite and confusion. (From Cancer Help UK)
ASCO palliative care resource stratified guideline: Dr. Osman served as co-chair of the expert panel that developed this guideline at the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO). The guideline provides recommendations for implementation of palliative care across a variety of settings taking into account the resource constraints of different countries. http://ascopubs.org/doi/full/10.1200/JGO.18.00026
K2P Policy Brief This policy brief is the outcome of the stakeholder meeting organized by Balsam in collaboration with K2P and the Ministry of Public Health. https://www.aub.edu.lb/k2p/Documents/K2P%20Policy%20Brief-%20Palliative%20Care-August%207%202018.pdf

What is palliative care? And when is the best time to get it?

Palliative care is care that helps people live their life as fully and as comfortably as possible when living with a life-limiting or terminal illness. Its main goal is to improve the quality of life of both the patient and his/her family. It is strongly advised to begin palliative care as soon as possible –ideally right after diagnosis- while undergoing active treatment. Unfortunately the term is riddled with common misconceptions which deterred many people from seeking help.

For more information regarding the true nature of palliative care and its benefits please visit the Palliative Care Australia and Putnam County Homecare and Hospice websites.

The Common Myths of Palliative Care.

People often worry that palliative care means giving up hope for a cure, while in fact it helps coping with aggressive treatments by managing symptoms and keeping pain under control. Certain studies -for example- have shown that receiving palliative care helped cancer patients complete their chemotherapy treatment and subsequently reported a much higher quality of life.

Another common myth people tend to believe is that palliative care is only for people with cancer, while in fact any person with any chronic illness which includes kidney, liver, lung and heart failure, dementia and other neurological illnesses can benefit greatly from palliative care.

Finally there is no age limit to be eligible for palliative care; people of all ages (including children) who feel like they could benefit from this care are encouraged to seek help.

For more common myths and misconceptions click here.

Diseases:

A common misconception about palliative care is that it is only for cancer patients. In fact a wide range of chronic illness may benefit from palliative care and a list of various diseases can be found on the Get Palliative Care website.

Managing symptoms:

Managing the pain and symptoms of the patient are crucial roles in the end of life care. The Royal Collage of Nursing offers guidance in managing the major and most frequent symptoms observed during life-limiting and life threatening diseases such as

- pain

- shortness of breath,

- constipation

- fatigue

- loss of appetite

- confusion

depression

Coping with Grief:

Grief is a natural and inevitable response to the loss of a loved one. It is strong and overwhelming, capable of affecting every aspect of our lives. For that reason the ability to cope with your grief is of utmost importance and is one of the goals of Balsam and of palliative care generally. If you feel you need help coping with your sorrow please click here for more information.

Identifying the final days of life and what to do.

When treating chronically ill patients with life threatening diseases, the ability to identify when the patient will die becomes essential. It can be hard to accept this, and a lot of people do not know what to do when the time comes. For further information on the matter including the steps needed to be done please click here.

Local Resources

Arc en ciel: an NGO that supplies medical equipment and supplies as well as medication to those in need. Phone: 01/495561 ext:5

E-mail: aec@arcenciel.org

Shehab gas: for various medical gas (including oxygen)

Medical division, Phone: 01/449584 ext: 221-228

E-mail: medical@chehabgas.com

Homecare division, Phone: 01/449584 ext: 121

E-mail: homecare@chehabgas.com

- Funeral houses: Harb, Phone: 03/507550 or visit their facebook page

Flouty, Phone: 01/337086

For more general information regarding palliative care and end of life care visit the Get Palliative Care, Marie Curie and Palliative Care Australia websites.

Balsam-Newsletter-April-June 2017
Balsam-Newsletter July-September 2017
Balsam-Newsletter September-December 2017
Balsam-Newsletter January-March 2018
Balsam-Newsletter April-June 2018

Balsam Newsletter July – September, 2018

Balsam Newsletter April 2019

Balsam-Newsletter-August 2019

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