What is Included in Palliative Care?
What is Included in Palliative Care?
Thursday October 21, 2021
If you or a loved one suffer from chronic pain or an ongoing illness, you may be wondering what is included in palliative care. In this article, we'll go over what palliative care entails, the services offered by palliative care, and how to pick the right option for you or a loved one.
Please keep in mind that you can always speak with an Abramson Care Advisor for free, 24 hours a day, to get unbiased advice from a senior care expert or to lean more about what is included in palliative care. Call 215-371-3400 to ask any questions.
The Goal of Palliative Care
Palliative care is a type of medical treatment that helps people with chronic illnesses manage their pain, symptoms, and side effects. While palliative care is often lumped in with hospice care, it differs in that it allows you to receive care while still pursuing treatment. This is because palliative care aims to improve one's quality of life, regardless of the stage of their life. It is often used in conjunction with aggressive treatments, such as for a patient going through chemotherapy. Palliative care has the advantage of assisting you in managing pain, symptoms, and side effects while your doctors focus on curative treatment.
Palliative Care Services
Palliative care services include prescribing medications as well as recommending therapies and resources to help patients cope with a chronic or life-threatening illness. Typically a palliative care physician, nurse practitioner, and medical social worker make up the palliative care team.
Specific palliative care support includes:
Relief from the signs and symptoms of a serious illness or side effects of treatment- Relief from the stress that often accompanies such illnesses and treatment
- Help with managing pain, shortness of breath, depression, nausea, and other complex physical and emotional symptoms
- Help with making difficult medical decisions
- Coordination of care with the patient's doctors
When to Consider Palliative Care
If you are trying to decide if palliative care is appropriate, there are several factors to consider. Palliative care may be able to help if:
The patient experiences uncontrollable physical or emotional symptoms, such as pain- The patient is undergoing active treatment for cancer or other long-term illnesses that impacts daily quality of life
- Admittance to the hospital two or more times in the past six months for the same illness
- Physical function feels deteriorated
- Could use physical assistance at home
- Require expert advice when making health-care decisions
- Concern for the exhaustion or psychological distress of a caregiver
How to Get Palliative Care
The Lila H. Levin Palliative Care Program from Abramson Senior Care offers one of the finest programs in the area. We have the flexibility to help patients in any care setting or transition, with our Montgomery County-based team providing palliative care services wherever the patient is currently calling home. With a higher visit frequency than most programs, we provide individualized, comprehensive treatment for symptoms, ongoing emotional support, and in-depth care discussions to help patients achieve their specific health goals.
The Lila H. Levin Palliative Care Program accepts referrals 24 hours a day, 7 days a week and is covered by private insurance in the Philadelphia area. Simply call 215.371.3550 to get started.
To learn more about what is included in palliative services and to get personalized advice on whether palliative care can help you or a loved on, call our Care Advisors free of charge 24/7 at 215-371-3400.
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