Palliative care

Palliative care is specialized care that focuses on the physical, emotional and spiritual needs of the patients with serious illness or injury, and their families.

Palliative care can be provided at any age and at any stage in the chronic illness, along with other medical treatments. This type of care promotes comfort, dignity and quality of life. Palliative care is different from hospice care, which focuses on end-of-life-care.

You can benefit from palliative care when:

• You and your family are dealing with a diagnosis of a chronic or terminal illness
• You have uncontrolled pain, trouble breathing or other distressing symptoms
• You and your family have difficult medical decisions to make and want help thinking them through

Palliative care versus hospice care

Hospice care is an end-of-life support service that focuses on caring, not curing.

Palliative care can be provided at any time during the course of a serious illness or injury at the same time as medical treatment.

How to request palliative care:

If you or your family thinks that palliative care would be helpful, please ask your physician or nurse for a consult.

Team members

The palliative care team includes physicians, nurse practitioners and registered nurses, social workers and chaplains. They provide guidance and support during:

• Overwhelming clinical situations
• Help managing difficult physical, spiritual or emotional distress
• Enhanced communication and facilitation of family meetings
• Alignment of your wishes and goals of care with a personalized treatment plan