Palliative Care helps patients who are facing a life-limiting illness continue to receive treatment, but adding a specialized focus on improving quality of life, generally through pain and symptom management.
Palliative care services are a unique blend of traditional home healthcare services and hospice services, providing the best of both worlds. Patients can still receive treatment, such as chemotherapy and radiation, but the treatment is palliative, not curative. We have found this to be an ideal transitional level of care for many patients as their disease progresses but treatment is not ready to be discontinued.
Examples of eligibility for Palliative Care services:
Patients receiving chemotherapy or radiation that may manage symptoms to promote comfort and prolong life, but that does not cure disease
Patients with cardiac or respiratory disease where the last line of treatment is being utilized by their MDs
A patient receiving dialysis that is needed more frequently; there may also be a decrease in the amount of fluid removed during dialysis
A patient with frequent re-hospitalizations with limited results from treatment options
A patient with progressive rapid decline who does not yet meet hospice criteria
A patient with general difficulty managing their symptoms at home