Palliative care focuses on improving the quality of life by reducing and/or eliminating physical symptoms of illness. It also allows for the patient to address psychological, spiritual, and social problems to put the patient at ease. The focus is not just the patient but the family as well. It is a holistic approach to ensure knowledge, comfort and a high sense of well-being to all the people involved.
Although palliative care is not a “cure” it can be used along with or without curative therapies. This idea of curative therapy with palliative care is what sets palliative care apart from hospice care. In hospice care, under Medicare, you must agree to terminate seeking of curative therapies. One must also be evaluated by two physicians, and based on the normal progressions of the disease, the patient must have less than 6 months to live (however, if one is still alive at the end of that 6 month period, they are re-evaluated). Palliative care offers no restrictions on disease......
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