Palliative
Care
About Palliative Care
Comparing Palliative and Hospice Care
Palliative and hospice care share many of the same core values
and philosophies.
Both:
- Aggressively treat pain and symptoms of the disease
- Offer support to the patient and family
- Share a commitment to achieving the best quality of life
- Provide expertise of a multidisciplinary team
Yet, there are some significant differences.
Palliative care is:
- Offered alongside active treatment of a patient’s
underlying disease
- An important supplement to the care offered in any phase of
a patient’s
illness
- An inpatient and outpatient consultation service to help patient,
family and treating physicians maximize the quality of the patient's
life
Hospice care is:
- A system of care for patients and families
- Often delivered at patient's own home, where it includes a
primary caregiver from the patient's own family
- A home health aide is available for up to four
hours a day of personal care
- Support and guidance from experienced hospice nurses
- For patients who are terminally ill (likely to live 6 months or less)
- Hospice includes payment for symptom-relieving medication,
nursing visits, and some nursing assistant visits to help with
the patient's personal care.
Our community hospice resources include
two Medicare-certified hospice programs that provide hospice care
in a patient's own home,
in nursing homes, and in our community's unique two-bed hospice
houses.
Learn More About Palliative Care and Hospice
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