Patient education: Palliative care (The Basics)

What is palliative care? — Palliative care is a special kind of medical care for people with serious illnesses. It focuses on comfort and relieving stress for a person and their family. A person can have palliative care at any point during an illness. It sometimes goes along with hospice care, but not always.

Palliative care is only 1 part of your health care. The palliative care team works with the doctors who take care of you. Together, they work to help with uncomfortable symptoms like:

●Pain

●Breathing trouble

●Nausea

●Tiredness

●Depression or anxiety

●Confusion

The palliative care team also help you with other things. These include planning for the future, coordinating care, and managing your feelings about the illness.

What is the difference between palliative care and hospice care? — Both types of care work to make a person more comfortable when they have a serious illness. But they are not exactly the same:

●Hospice care is only used toward the end of a person's life.

●Palliative care can happen at any time.

Often, during hospice care, a person stops other treatments that aim to cure them or help them live longer. With palliative care, these treatments can continue. The focus of the palliative treatment is on preventing and relieving suffering and improving quality of life.

Who is on the palliative care team? — The palliative care team has a health care provider, usually a doctor or nurse. But it might also include other people, such as:

●Social workers

●Chaplains or others who provide spiritual care

●Therapists

●Psychologists

●Dietitians

You, your family, and your regular doctors will work with the palliative care team. The goal is to provide you with the best care.

Where does palliative care happen? — A person can get palliative care in the hospital, a nursing home, or at home. It can also be given at the doctor's office or clinic. For some people, palliative care is a part of hospice care. Insurance might cover palliative care.

Who needs palliative care? — Palliative care might be a good choice for people with serious illnesses. Some examples include:

●Heart or lung disease

●Cancer

●Stroke

●Dementia

●Cystic fibrosis

●Diabetes

●Kidney disease

●Muscular dystrophy

●Brain injury

What are the benefits of palliative care? — People who use palliative care are often better able to cope with their illness. They might also spend less time in the hospital and more time being cared for safely at home.

Palliative care can also help with:

●Managing symptoms

●Easing the burden on family members or other caregivers

●Having a realistic understanding of an illness and what to expect in the future

●Deciding the best course of treatment, based your goals and values

●Planning for the future

Deciding to use palliative care can help you be more comfortable. The team will address your body, mind, and emotions. They can also help you deal with things that are hard to talk about, like making plans for the future and end-of-life care.

More on this topic

Patient education: Advance directives (The Basics)
Patient education: Medical care during advanced illness (The Basics)