When I speak to a group about the goodness of hospice care, the first thing I do is ask if there are any questions regarding hospice. Sometimes I will be asked what palliative care is; what is its purpose? And along that line someone may ask if a hospice offers two different types of care. That is, are hospice and palliative care different from each other?
In a nutshell, the difference between the two being palliative care offers symptom relief while allowing the ill person to continue to receive aggressive treatment whereas, hospice focuses on comfort.
Any chronic illness is appropriate for palliative care with cancer being high on the list. Palliative care addresses the side effects of chemotherapy, radiation and the recovery process after surgery. To demonstrate its scope, palliative care may include treatments for depression or anxiety. Tools to help family members plan for the future are also made available.
The two types of care are similar in that both are generally administered in the patient’s home. One man told me he wished he’d known that choosing palliative care, as the illness continued, did not mean giving up. He talked about how stress grew as his family dealt with the continuance of care for his brother. Once called, the palliative care team provided physical, emotional and spiritual support.
“Once we tried palliative care my brother’s comfort and his attitude improved. And to be honest,” he added, “so did ours.” The man mentioned that his brother received palliative care from hospice for over a year.
When someone in your family is suffering from a chronic illness, consider discussing with your tending medical care provider the option of palliative care. And who knows, just as the man mentioned above, your emotional comfort and attitude may improve.
Author Rick Schneider
