Types of care
Palliative care
Palliative care is specialized medical care that eases the symptoms and stress of a serious illness. A team works with the patient, family, and other doctors. People can receive it at any stage of illness, alongside treatment meant to cure. It differs from hospice, which is for the final months.
Why it matters for your family
Palliative care aims to improve daily life by treating pain, breathlessness, nausea, and worry. People often confuse it with hospice. Palliative care does not mean giving up on treatment. A person with heart failure or cancer, for example, can receive it while continuing other therapies. Families can ask a doctor for a referral soon after a serious diagnosis. The care team also helps with hard decisions and planning. If a doctor later expects a person to live six months or less, palliative care may move into hospice care. Coverage depends on the setting and the insurance plan.
Source: nia.nih.gov
Related terms
- Hospice careHospice care is end-of-life care for people with an illness that cannot be cured.
- Advance care planningAdvance care planning is the process of thinking about and sharing your wishes for future medical care.
- Chronic conditionA chronic condition is a health problem that lasts a year or more and needs ongoing medical attention, limits daily activities, or both.
- Congestive heart failureCongestive heart failure is a long-term condition in which the heart cannot pump or fill well enough to meet the body's needs.
- COPDCOPD, or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, is a progressive lung disease that makes breathing hard.
- Skilled nursing careSkilled nursing care is nursing and therapy that only licensed professionals, or staff supervised by them, can safely provide.
