Palliative Care is medical care designed to address the needs of people living with serious or chronic illness. This may include care for a patient’s emotional and spiritual needs as well as the physical. Palliative Care supports patients and families by working with the patient, family, and the patient’s health care team to provide relief from the symptoms that often accompany serious illness, including pain. This care is in addition to any curative treatments that a patient may be undergoing and is designed to improve quality of life and decrease the burden of symptoms.

What is the difference between hospice and palliative care?

Both Hospice Care and Palliative Care offer compassionate care to patients with life-limiting illnesses. However, Hospice Care focuses on a person’s last six months of life after a patient has stopped curative treatments. Palliative Care can be provided at any time in a person’s serious illness and can be delivered concurrently with aggressive and curative therapies.