Palliative Care

About

What is palliative care?

Palliative care is a medical specialty that concentrates on caring for patients living with serious illnesses. It is appropriate for any age, at any stage of illness, as a way to help patients handle the challenges of day-to-day living.

Palliative care is not meant to replace other medical treatments; the focus is to improve your quality of life. This medical approach is most beneficial for helping you manage your symptoms in order to prevent unwanted hospitalizations. 

When should I consider palliative care?

Palliative care should be considered if you suffer with pain or anxiety related to:

• Heart disease
• Lung disease
• Kidney disease
• Alzheimer’s
• HIV/AIDS
• ALS (amyotrophic lateral sclerosis)
• MS (multiple sclerosis)
• Parkinson’s disease
• any other serious illness

How palliative care helps

The symptoms you experience from your illness can make life uncomfortable and sometimes difficult. Palliative care assists by providing relief from symptoms such as:

• Constipation
• Depression
• Difficulty sleeping
• Fatigue
• Loss of appetite
• Nausea
• Pain
• Shortness of breath

Palliative care vs. hospice care

Palliative care is not hospice care, palliative care focuses on helping patients manage the pain, symptoms, and stress of having a serious disease. In contrast, hospice care is in place to care for patients whose diagnosis is terminal.

If and when the time comes, your provider may suggest hospice to provide comfort care closer to the end of life. When this happens, our case management team works with you and your family to find comprehensive hospice care from one of our local hospice care centers. 

How do I pay for my care?

Medicare and most private insurance companies cover palliative care. Patients are usually automatically referred to us, but if not, just ask for a referral from your doctor. We'll continue to work with your primary care physician - so rest assured - you will not have to give up your current doctor.