Palliative Care
Palliative care (pronounced pal-lee-uh-tiv) is specialized medical care for people with serious illness or health condition. This type of care is focused on providing relief from the symptoms and stress of a serious illness. The goal is to improve quality of life for both the patient and the family.
Palliative care is provided by a specially trained team of doctors, nurses and other specialists who work together with a patient’s other doctors to provide an extra layer of support. It is appropriate at any age and at any stage in a serious illness or health condition, and it can be provided along with curative treatment.
Palliative care providers
Palliative care is an interdisciplinary medical specialty. That means that members of a palliative care team can include providers like physicians, nurses, social workers, chaplains/spiritual counselors, dietitians, child life specialists, therapists, pharmacists, as well as family members and caregivers.
Why palliative care?
Palliative care can provide patients of all ages relief from symptoms like pain, anxiety, shortness of breath, fatigue and other challenges that are the result of an illness or health condition, and the treatments for that condition. The Institute of Medicine recommends that all Americans with advanced illnesses have access to palliative care services provided by well-trained professional teams.
The benefits of palliative care help not only the patient, but also their families and the medical system. “Hospital palliative care programs have been shown to improve physical and psychological symptom management, caregiver well-being, and family satisfaction and small, single-site studies suggest that palliative care programs may reduce hospital and intensive care unit (ICU) expenditure.”
Where is palliative care provided?
Palliative care can be provided in a wide range of settings, ensuring that patients receive the support they need in the environment most appropriate to their situation. This may include a patient's home, care center, or assisted living facility. Patients may also receive palliative care in the hospital, rehabilitation facilities, correctional facilities, or residential hospices. Additionally, many outpatient clinics and cancer centers also offer palliative care.
Advance care planning
Advance care planning supports individuals in making plans and written instructions about their future health care and deciding what matters most for upcoming and end of life care.
Find more information on Advance Care Planning.
Resources
- Center to Advance Palliative Care – a national organization dedicated to increasing the availability of quality palliative care services for people facing serious illness.
- Get Palliative Care – provides clear, comprehensive palliative care information for people coping with serious illness.
- Health Affairs Blog – How States Can Expand Access To Palliative Care – an excellent summary of many of the current research and state activity.
- Minnesota Network of Hospice & Palliative Care (MNHPC) – the state’s leading palliative and hospice care network.
- The National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization (NHPCO) – the largest nonprofit membership organization representing hospice and palliative care programs and professionals in the United States.
- National Palliative Care Registry – research in the field provides information that is an evidence base to inform program development, create presentations, write reports or grant proposals, and develop new research projects based on the read current state of the evidence.
- American Geriatrics Society – a nationwide, not-for-profit society of geriatrics health care professionals dedicated to improving the health, independence, and quality of life of older people via patient care, research, professional and public education, and public policy.