Palliative care relieves suffering and provides the best possible quality of life for people facing pain, symptoms and stresses of a serious, chronic illness. It is appropriate at any age and at any stage of an illness, from diagnosis on, and can be provided along with treatments that are meant to treat the illness.
Palliative care may help in recovering from an illness by relieving symptoms such as pain, anxiety or loss of appetite, while undergoing difficult medical treatments or procedures. In some cases patients with cancer who receive palliative care are more likely to complete chemotherapy treatment and report a higher quality of life than those who did not receive palliative care.
Palliative care…
- Provides relief from pain and other uncomfortable symptoms;
- Assists in making difficult medical decisions;
- Coordinates care and helps in navigating the often-complex health care system;
- Guides in making a plan for living well, based on needs, concerns and goals for care;
- Provides emotional and spiritual support and guidance to patients and their families.
There are a variety of places where patients may access palliative care. Palliative care is provided in many hospitals by palliative care consult teams. Some hospital palliative care programs also may have an outpatient palliative care clinic. Palliative care may be available through home care agencies. Nursing homes may also offer a palliative care program. There are other pilot programs in greater Minnesota that offer community- based palliative care
Palliative care, a relatively new medical term, has a goal of improving the quality of a seriously ill person’s life and to provide support to the family during treatment. This differs from hospice care which focuses relieving symptoms and supporting patients with a life expectancy of months, not years, and their families. Click to learn more about hospice care.