What is palliative care?

Palliative care — also known as supportive care or symptom management — is administered at the time of diagnosis of a serious illness, throughout the treatment course and through the end-of-life for a patient with a serious illness such as cancer.

Palliative care consists of measures to prevent or treat adverse events that accompany the illness, as well as treatment for the illness. Moreover, palliative care is aimed at preventing and/or treating the social, psychological and spiritual problems that often accompany a serious illness. It is not uncommon for family members of the patient to also receive palliative care.

Data has indicated that palliative care is associated with improvements in quality of life for both patients and their family members.

Issues often addressed in palliative care include:

Practical
Physical
Emotional
Spiritual

Any health care professional knowledgeable in the emotional issues and adverse events of cancer may administer palliative care. Palliative care specialists work in a multidisciplinary team that consists of physicians and nurses, social workers, pharmacists and registered dieticians.

Palliative care may be offered at hospitals, long-term care facilities, hospices or patients’ homes.

Children may also receive palliative care. Treatment is administered in tertiary care facilities, community health centers or the family’s home.

Additional information may be found at these websites:

http://www.cancer.gov/cancertopics/factsheet/Support/palliative-care

http://www.who.int/cancer/palliative/definition/en/

http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/palliativecare.html