Palliative Care: What you can expect
The palliative care provided at Catholic Health can offer you:
- Relief from symptoms including pain, shortness of breath, fatigue, constipation, nausea, loss of appetite, numbness and problems with sleep
- Spiritual and emotional strength to carry on with daily life
- Improved ability to tolerate medical treatments
- Better understanding of your condition and your choices for medical care
Palliative Care at Catholic Health makes all the difference
At Catholic Health, our palliative care team includes physicians, nurses, chaplains, and social workers. Together with your own doctor, we make sure that you receive:
- Emotional and spiritual support for you and your family
- Coordination of your care among all of your health care providers
- Close communication about your illness and treatment choices
- Coordination of post-hospital services
Begin palliative care early
- Palliative care can occur at the same time as all other treatments for your illness. It does not depend upon your prognosis. So there’s absolutely no reason to wait. When symptoms affect your quality of life, stress can have a big impact on your family.
Palliative care is not the same as hospice care
- Hospice care is meant for people in the final months of life. Non-hospice palliative care, on the other hand, is available to you at any time during your illness. Unlike hospice, you can also receive palliative care at the same time as curative treatments.
Your insurance will cover palliative care
- Most insurance plans, including Medicare and Medicaid, cover palliative care services. It is handled like other medical services, such as oncology or cardiology.
Getting palliative care is easy. Just ask for it
- You may already have been referred to the palliative care team, but if not, just ask your doctor for a referral. We work together with your primary physician, so you will not have to give up your own doctor.
