Whether you’re facing a new terminal diagnosis or you’ve been managing a long-term illness, palliative care can offer relief. Often confused with hospice care, palliative care can be provided along with treatment for an illness.
Hospice care is for patients facing the end of life after they’ve exhausted treatment options. Palliative care can assist patients by providing additional support they need to be comfortable. Like hospice, palliative care may be covered under Medicare and Medicaid insurance. However, there can be an out-of-pocket cost to receive it.
What is Palliative Care?
Palliative care is specialized medical care for people with severe illnesses. It focuses on treating the symptoms of a condition to provide pain relief and help improve a patient’s quality of life.
When palliative care begins in the early stages of an illness, it can add peace of mind for patients and their families. It can also help them avoid unnecessary travel to hospitals, clinics, and emergency rooms, where waiting long periods is often necessary before receiving treatment. Palliative care with an established and trusted primary care clinician can also add comfort during the illness.
What Illnesses Can Palliative Care Support?
- Cancers
- Chronic liver disease
- Dementias, including Alzheimer’s disease and Parkinson’s disease
- Heart failure
- Kidney failure
- Lung diseases, such as COPD
- Multiple Sclerosis
What Symptoms are Addressed and Treated by Palliative Care?
- Pain
- Nausea
- Loss of appetite and nutritional needs
- Shortness of breath
- Fatigue/insomnia
- Constipation
- Anxiety
- Depression
Palliative Care Coordination Services Available:
- Educating patients/families on disease progression and management
- Explaining care and treatment options
- Providing resources for other non-medical services
- Advocating and communicating patient’s wishes to medical professionals
- Offering emotional support resources
What is Hospice Care?
Hospice is a form of palliative care. It’s often associated with passing away. Hospice care is a way for those who decide not to treat a terminal illness or for those who do not have viable treatment options available. While someone is under the care of hospice, they don’t treat their terminal condition in an attempt to cure it.
However, patients will have comfort measures to treat symptoms when receiving hospice care. For instance, if someone in hospice develops a common infection like a UTI, that infection will still be treated to help keep them comfortable.
Is Hospice a Place?
Contrary to a common myth, hospice is a form of patient care, not a place. While some states offer living settings deemed ” Hospice Houses,” this is not the case in all states.
Those choosing hospice can reside in their homes, assisted living and memory care communities, hospitals, or nursing homes.
How Can Hospice Help?
Designed for added comfort, hospice addresses the whole patient. Being told by a physician that you have a life expectancy of 6 months or less can bring about major anxiety.
Chaplains, social workers, volunteers, CNAs, and intuitive nurses assist hospice patients and their families in providing physical comfort and emotional support. Families of hospice patients have some support for up to 13 months following their loved one’s passing. Through check-ins from the hospice team, families can be directed to additional resources that can help them cope with the emotions that accompany losing someone they love.
If you’re facing a terminal illness and you’re considering palliative or hospice care, your physician can help to offer education and make a referral to care that will best suit your needs.
Legacy Medical can help, too. We offer primary care, including palliative care services. Our nurse practitioners can assess patients to determine if hospice care could be helpful and make referrals to area providers who can make orders. However, we do not offer hospice care.
Contact us at info@legacymedical.com if you or a loved one want to explore palliative care services for comfort and an improved quality of life.
