Is Palliative Care the Same as End-of-Life Care?

One common misconception is that palliative care is the same as end-of-life care or hospice care. The main difference is that palliative care provides patients with a better quality of life as they seek curative treatments.

What Sets Palliative Care Apart from End-of-Life Care?

Seek palliative care when you want qualified medical professionals to guide you through treatments that bring on painful, distressing side effects. Sometimes, the illness itself creates symptoms worth treating until they get better.

Here are more details about palliative care:

• Palliative care can occur at any time during a serious illness, even on the day of diagnosis.
• Palliative care aims to make the patient more comfortable while receiving treatments with adverse side effects.
• You can receive palliative care during an outpatient visit, an in-home consultation, or a nursing home.
• A palliative-trained, certified physician provides palliative care. A social worker can also be included in the care to offer emotional support.
• Palliative care is a temporary requirement until you get better. Most patients that seek palliative care are hoping for a healthier prognosis.
• You can expect some of the same benefits with palliative care as end-of-life care, including counseling, someone to visit with and offer a listening ear, and a team of medical professionals dedicated to making you happy and pain-free.

When you sign up for palliative care, you can expect your comfort to be a top priority. For example, if your treatment includes chemotherapy, your palliative care team will provide you with a care plan that includes pain management, rest, hydration, and nutrition.

In other instances, palliative care may be required to get you through multiple broken bones or heart disease while you are waiting for a procedure. Side effects from the illness can make it difficult to breathe, and palliative care will assist with those symptoms.

Palliative Care or End-of-Life Care

If you have reached the end of the road in seeking curative treatments and have a condition with less than six months to live, it is time to seek end-of-life care. Talk with your doctors about which treatment is best for you. Palliative care is available to anyone struggling with a severe illness.

Are you looking for pain management and support while seeking curative treatments? Sometimes illness management can require special assistance provided by licensed palliative care providers. Please reach out to our Bonita Springs Healthcare Services team for questions about palliative care needs.