What is palliative care?
Palliative care is care given to improve the quality of life of patients who have a serious or life-threatening disease. Palliative care is an approach to care that focuses on the whole person, not just their disease, expressly tailored to the patient and his or her family’s needs and wishes. The goal is to prevent or treat, as early as possible, the symptoms and side effects of the disease and its treatment.
Is palliative care the same as hospice care?
Palliative care is not the same as hospice care and is appropriate for people of any age at any point in an illness. It can be delivered along with treatments that are meant to cure you.
Palliative care is typically provided by palliative medicine team that includes doctors, nurses, social workers and chaplains. The team works in partnership with your primary doctor and can see you in the hospital or at your home.
Is palliative care right for you?
Any patient who has a serious illness with an unpredictable prognosis such as advanced dementia, lung, heart, kidney disease or cancer can benefit from the many aspects of palliative care. Palliative Care is best introduced early in the course of treatment, but it can help patients at all stages of an illness.
Palliative care is appropriate whenever there is an underlying serious or life-threatening illness and:
- There is a distressing physical symptom, such as pain, nausea or loss of appetite
- There is a difficult decision to be made concerning the most appropriate level of life-sustaining care
- Assistance is required by patients and/or families in coordinating end-of-life care services
If you are in need of this service, please consult your doctor.
For more information or to speak with a member of our team, please call (843) 606-7810.