Understanding Palliative Care
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What is palliative care?
Palliative care is specialized medical care to help people with serious illness feel better. Unlike hospice, palliative care is available while you or your loved one is still seeking a cure.
Palliative care also focuses on managing pain, symptoms, and the effects of illness. It helps guide patients through care options to determine patients access resources to help them meet their individual goals.
Palliative care is provided by a team of physicians, nurses and other specialists to provide an extra layer of support. Our Palliative Certified Medical Director oversees our program. Under their direction, a nurse practitioner provides comprehensive evaluation, assessment and coordination with specialists. A social worker may assist in providing resources for practical and emotional support.
Palliative care vs. Hospice care
While both hospice care and palliative care work to relieve pain and symptoms. Palliative Care is specialized medical care for people living with serious illness. Unlike hospice, palliative care is available while a patient is still seeking treatment. Some people may be physically ready for hospice, but mentally are not ready. In these instances, palliative care can assist them in navigating the complexities of advanced medical care and help them focus on their individual goals.
Hospice becomes an option when the focus turns from seeking a cure to seeking quality for the time that remains, usually six months or less, though patients can be certified for additional 60-day periods of care.
Hospice often becomes a choice when a patient is seeking relief from frequent emergency room visits or is physically or emotionally tired of challenging treatments that no longer have a positive impact on life expectancy or quality of life.
Who needs palliative care?
Palliative care may be beneficial to anyone living with a broad range of diseases or illnesses, such as:
- ALS
- Cancer
- Dementia/Alzheimer’s
- Heart disease
- HIV/AIDS
- Kidney failure
- Lung disease
- Parkinson's
Both Palliative Care and Hospice Care work to improve quality of life by managing pain, symptoms and the effects of illness. Both provide an extra layer of support.
Who is eligible for palliative care?
People facing a serious illness can choose palliative care to assist in symptom management, coordination of care among specialists and to engage resources for practical and emotional support. It can be used before a patient is physically or emotionally ready for hospice.
Who provides palliative care?
Our Palliative Certified Medical Director oversees our palliative care. Under his direction, a nurse practitioner provides comprehensive evaluation, assessment and coordination with other specialists. A social worker may assist in providing resources for practical and emotional support.
Understanding Hospice
If you or a loved one have been diagnosed with a terminal illness, there may come a time when the efforts to slow the illness are no longer effective. If that time comes, choosing hospice can provide you with comfort and peace by managing your pain and symptoms as well as providing emotional and spiritual support.