Also Known As:
Palliative medicine, supportive care, symptom-management care
Type:
Comfort-focused medical care for serious illness at any stage
Primary Purpose:
To relieve symptoms and stress from a serious illness, alongside curative treatment, if desired.
When It Applies:
Palliative care can begin at any point in a serious illness. Hospice, by contrast, requires a six-month prognosis.
Who Is Involved:
A palliative care team, typically a physician, nurse, social worker, and chaplain. Care is provided in addition to the patient’s existing medical team.
Where It Occurs:
Outpatient clinics, inpatient hospital units, and (less often) at home, depending on the program.
Duration:
Months to years. Palliative care can continue throughout the course of a serious illness.
Coverage:
Generally covered by Medicare, Medicaid, and private insurance, though billing varies by setting.
Key Focus:
Pain, breathing, nausea, fatigue, anxiety, depression, and the practical and spiritual concerns of living with a serious illness.
Common Misunderstanding:
Palliative care is not hospice. A patient can receive palliative care while still pursuing curative treatment. Hospice requires foregoing curative treatment for the terminal diagnosis.
Palliative Care vs. Hospice, The Key Difference
Both palliative and hospice care focus on comfort. The difference is when they apply and whether curative treatment continues:
- Palliative care, comfort and symptom care alongside curative treatment, at any stage of serious illness
- Hospice care, comfort care for patients with a six-month prognosis who have chosen to focus on quality of life rather than curative treatment
Patients often receive palliative care for months or years before transitioning to hospice. Sometimes a palliative care team will be the first to recommend hospice when the time comes.
Who Benefits from Palliative Care
Palliative care is appropriate at any stage of a serious illness, including:
- Newly diagnosed cancer, alongside chemotherapy or radiation
- Heart failure, kidney failure, COPD, or other progressive conditions
- ALS, Parkinson’s, multiple sclerosis
- Early or middle-stage dementia
- Any serious illness where symptoms or stress are interfering with quality of life
Does Lifted Offer Palliative Care
Lifted is a hospice-only provider today. Palliative care is a separate service that we educate the community on but do not currently offer.
If your loved one is dealing with a serious illness but is not yet hospice-eligible, ask their physician about palliative care programs at the hospital or in the community. If hospice becomes the right step, we are here. Read our hospice overview.