Enhancing Quality of Life through Palliative and Hospice Care

When it comes to facing a life-limiting illness, it's crucial that patients have access to compassionate and dignified care options.

Two valuable approaches, palliative care and hospice care, offer personalized support while making patient comfort a top priority. Both approaches focus on managing symptoms, improving quality of life and providing emotional support. It's not just about helping the patients, but also giving peace of mind to their caregivers and family members. One distinction between the two approaches is that palliative care is not time restricted. Also, palliative care is often provided alongside curative treatments, meaning that patients can still receive treatment aimed at curing their illness while benefiting from palliative care.

On the other hand, hospice care is for patients expected to live for six months or less who decide to no longer pursue life-extending treatments. “I don’t want hospice, I want to stay home,” is common to hear, but Hospice care can be delivered in various settings, including a patient’s own home or inpatient facility. While Hospice does not offer in-home palliative care, we collaborate with patients’ home providers and reassess patients for hospice as needed. Palliative care doesn’t necessarily lead to hospice care, but if needed, our patients can seamlessly transition.

Palliative care:  • No life expectancy time restrictions  • Given alongside curative treatments

Hospice: • Individual expected to live six months or less • Curative treatment ends; primary goal becomes quality of life and symptom management