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Hospice and Palliative Care
Post date
November 7, 2022 3:35pm
November is National Hospice and Palliative Care Month.
In 2022 the theme is “Meeting you where you are.” Hospice care and palliative care each focus on the needs of a person to ensure the best quality of life for that individual. Anyone with a serious illness can receive either type of care. There are similarities and differences between these two types of care, which help determine the best care for a particular individual.
“Hospice care focuses on quality of life when a cure is no longer possible, or the burdens of treatment outweigh the benefits.” (www.nhpco.org) A person can be enrolled in hospice if a physician thinks that individual has less than six months to live. And care can be continued as long as necessary with extensions commonly happening.
While in hospice a person cannot receive curative treatment for a specific illness, but can receive medications that enhance quality of life, by managing symptoms and pain. Other treatments include emotional support, coaching for caregivers, grief support, therapies (OT, PT, and speech), respite care, and short-term inpatient care. Complementary treatments, including massage; music, art and aroma therapy; acupuncture; and healing touch, can also be used.
Hospice care can be given in a home setting, assisted living apartment, skilled nursing facility, long-term care center, or hospice facility. The care is given by a team which includes physicians, nurses, chaplains, home health aides, social workers, volunteers, and specialized therapists. At home day-to-day care is usually given by family, friends, or paid home health aides. Medicare, Medicaid, or private insurance are the usual ways hospice care is paid for.
Palliative care is “focused on providing relief from symptoms and stress of a serious illness. The goal is to improve the quality of life for both the patient and the family.” (www.getpalliativecare.org) It is appropriate care for any person of any age and at any stage of a serious illness. Unlike hospice care, with palliative care a person can continue to receive treatments to try to cure the illness. These include surgery, radiation, dialysis, and chemotherapy. Some of the illnesses treated with palliative care are cancer, congestive heart failure, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, chronic kidney disease, dementia, Parkinson’s, and ALS (Lou Gehrig’s disease). Improved quality of life occurs by treating the following disease symptoms, pain, depression, shortness of breath, fatigue, constipation, nausea, loss of appetite, difficulty sleeping, and anxiety, with standard medical treatment or complementary treatments. Palliative care is usually paid for by Medicare, Medicaid, private insurance, or the Veterans Administration.
Palliative care is “an interdisciplinary medical caregiving approach aimed at optimizing quality of life and mitigating suffering among people with serious complex illness. (Wikipedia) This type of care can be given in a private home, hospital room, assisted living apartment, skilled nursing facility, or outpatient clinic by specially trained physicians, nurses, social workers, nutritionists, and chaplains. The care giving can be ongoing for as long as it is needed.
In conclusion, hospice care and palliative care are very similar in many respects. Both care for individuals with serious illnesses to help improve their quality of life. Care is based on the person’s needs and not on the course of an illness. Both help to relieve symptoms and pain and address emotional and spiritual needs of the individual. The big difference between the two types of care is that in hospice a person must have less than six months to live and cannot seek any curative treatment.
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