A chronic or terminal illness is traumatic and stressful. As a family member, you’ll face some of the most difficult decisions in your life. Your loved one may experience debilitating symptoms. They may have to adjust to new physical limitations, and cope with the complex emotions that often arise. Navigating treatment and care can feel overwhelming.
The distinction between palliative care and hospice care can be confusing. Both aim to enhance quality of life. However, each one serves a distinct purpose, and they’re offered at different stages of treatment.
Below, you’ll learn the difference between palliative care and hospice care. You’ll see how each type of care can serve your family’s needs, depending on where you are in your healthcare journey.
Are you or a loved one living with a chronic or terminal illness?
The Sage Family of Companies is here to help.
Are you or a loved one living with achronic or terminal illness?
The Sage Family of Companies is here to help.
Palliative Care vs Hospice Care
Both palliative and hospice care are meant to ease suffering, but only one is given at the end of someone’s life. Hospice care is end-of-life care focused on comfort for those dying of a terminal illness. However, palliative care is for anyone with a life-limiting disease, at any stage of illness.
What Is Palliative Care?
Palliative care is a holistic approach to care aimed at managing symptoms and easing the suffering associated with chronic illness, regardless of prognosis. Patients continue medical treatments intended to cure or stop the progression of disease, while complementary care focuses on quality of life.
Who Is Eligible for Palliative Care?
Anyone at any age and any stage of a chronic disease is eligible for palliative care. It’s often recommended by physicians at the time of diagnosis, as it can help your family adjust to life with a new illness and navigate your treatment decisions.
Diseases that can be treated with palliative care include:
- Cancer
- Heart disease
- Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD)
- Alzheimer’s disease or other forms of dementia
- Kidney failure
- Parkinson’s disease
- Multiple sclerosis
- Liver disease
- Lung disease
- Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS)
- Cystic fibrosis
Your Palliative Care Team
The members of a palliative care team will vary depending on each patient and family’s needs. Generally, a palliative care team consists of:
- Doctors and nurses
- Physician specialists
- Social workers
- Home health aides
- Physical therapists
- Occupational and speech therapists
- Psychologists and mental health counselors
- Dietitians and nutritionists
- Trained volunteers
- Faith leaders or spiritual advisors
What’s Included in Palliative Care?
Palliative care is designed to enhance the well-being of patients and their loved ones, taking a comprehensive approach that encompasses physical, emotional, and mental health.
Pain and Symptom Management
One of the major components of palliative care is effective pain and symptom management, which are crucial for maximizing a patient’s comfort. Methods of treatment may include:
- Medications
- Physical therapy
- Nutritional guidance
- Speech and occupational therapy
- Massage
- Alternative therapies like Reiki, acupuncture, and meditation
Emotional and Spiritual Support
Life with a chronic illness can be a heavy weight to bear, and often affects the mental health of the patient and their friends and family members. Depression and anxiety are common among individuals with life-limiting diseases.
Members of your palliative care team, including social workers, psychologists, and counselors are available to help you work through the inevitable mental health struggles.
Patients can also choose to include spiritual guidance as part of their palliative care plan. Faith leaders and spiritual advisors are available to address any concerns.
Medical Equipment
Often, chronic illnesses limit mobility and the ability to complete routine and personal tasks. Palliative care provides medical equipment to help ensure you can continue moving through life as comfortably and safely as possible. Depending on your needs, medical equipment can include:
- Wheelchairs
- Canes and walkers
- Shower chairs
- Grab bars and handrails
- Assistive breathing devices
- Bedside commode
- Feeding tubes and catheters
Caregiving and Practical Assistance
A chronic illness can impact every aspect of your life. Your palliative care team can assist with the following:
- Medication management
- Assistance with personal care tasks like bathing and dressing
- Wound care
- Changing and cleaning medical equipment
- Providing emotional support for patients and loved ones
- Financial planning
- Legal counsel
Where Can You Receive Palliative Care?
You can receive palliative care at home, in nursing homes, hospitals, or other healthcare facilities. Wherever you choose to accept care, your palliative care team can be flexible and accessible to all.
Are you or a loved one living with a chronic or terminal illness?
The Sage Family of Companies is here to help.
Are you or a loved one living with achronic or terminal illness?
The Sage Family of Companies is here to help.
What Is Hospice Care?
Hospice care is specialized healthcare dedicated to enhancing the comfort and quality of life for those with terminal illnesses approaching death. Patients typically transition to hospice care when their body no longer responds to treatment, or when they opt to discontinue treatment altogether.
Your loved one may decide to discontinue life-saving treatment if the side effects become too burdensome and difficult to manage. Upon entering hospice care, doctors halt curative treatments, and the focus shifts to a care plan that prioritizes the management of pain and other distressing symptoms.
Your hospice care team is made up of doctors and nurses, social workers, home health aides, counselors, volunteers, and other health care specialists trained in end-of-life care.
Who Is Eligible for Hospice Care?
Patients are eligible for hospice care when their physician estimates that they have approximately six months or less to live if their illness follows its natural course. If your loved one lives longer than six months, they can still remain in hospice, as long as their doctor or hospice physician certifies that their disease is terminal.
The Benefits of Hospice Care
Dying from a terminal illness is a heartbreaking process for everyone involved. While the Sage Family of Companies can’t change the outcome, our hospice care teams can provide a number of services and resources that can help. The advantages of hospice care include:
Enhanced Quality of Life: Hospice care focuses on maximizing quality of life during the final days, weeks, and months of life, providing the comfort, dignity, and support your loved one deserves.
Pain and Symptom Management: Your hospice care team will ensure effective pain and symptom control, offering relief and improving overall comfort.
Emotional and Psychological Support: Hospice teams are staffed with psychologists and mental health counselors who provide emotional and psychological support to patients and their families as they cope with the emotional challenges of the end of a loved one’s life.
Personalized Care Plans: Hospice care plans are specially designed to fit each individual’s needs and preferences, ensuring a holistic and patient-centered approach.
Family Involvement: Hospice care recognizes the importance of family, involving them in caregiving responsibilities, and offering support to ensure their well-being. Bereavement counseling, access to support groups, and other mental health resources are available through your hospice care team.
Spiritual Considerations: Hospice care can incorporate spiritual guidance, ensuring that the patient’s spiritual and emotional needs are met.
Where Can You Receive Hospice Care?
You can receive hospice care at home or in a hospice facility, nursing home, or hospital. Deciding where to receive hospice care is an individual choice, and should be made by consulting with your family and doctor.
FAQ
Here are some frequently asked questions about palliative care versus hospice care.
Palliative Care vs Hospice Care: The Sage Family of Companies Can Help
Navigating a chronic illness can be depressing and traumatic at any stage of the disease. The Sage Family of Companies is here to help your family through every step of the way, from diagnosis to the final days, weeks, and months of life.
Both palliative care and hospice care teams are specially trained, and will ensure your loved one experiences the comfort, dignity, and respect they deserve, while navigating the different stages of their health care journey. The Sage Family of Companies is here to answer any questions you may have.
Article Sources
- What Are Palliative Care and Hospice Care?, NIH, 2021.
- Understanding the Link Between Chronic Disease and Depression, NIH, 2024.
- What is hospice?, HFA, 2024.
