Palliative Care

Palliative care is care that makes patients feel better but doesn’t treat the disease itself. Palliative care should begin when the cancer is diagnosed. It continues through treatment and beyond. Research shows that palliative care improves the quality of life of patients and family members. All patients have a right to comfort and quality of life throughout their care.

Palliative care is especially important if you choose to stop treating your cancer. It includes:

• Treating or preventing cancer symptoms and the side effects caused by treatment
• Getting help with emotional and spiritual problems
• Addressing the practical concerns of patients and families

Palliative treatment: Many of the same methods that are used to treat cancer, such as medicines and certain treatments, can also be used to reduce pain or other symptoms, and help a patient feel more comfortable. In advanced cancer, palliative treatment may be given to help a person feel better, even if it isn’t intended to treat the cancer. For example, doctors may give chemotherapy to slow the growth of a tumor that is causing pain. Or surgery may be performed to remove a mass that is pressing on certain nerves and causing pain.

To receive palliative care, members of your health care team may be able to help. However a palliative care specialist may be the best person to treat problems. Ask your doctor or nurse if there is a specialist you can see.

For more about palliative care, see the NCI fact sheet Palliative Care.

Hospice Care

Hospice is a special type of care in which medical, psychological, and spiritual support are given to patients and their loved ones when cancer therapies are no longer controlling the disease. Although both hospice and palliative care provide comfort and support for patients, palliative care is available throughout a patient’s experience with cancer. A person’s cancer treatment continues while one is receiving palliative care, but with hospice care,  the focus has shifted to just relieving symptoms and providing support at the end of life.

The goal of hospice care is to help you live each day to the fullest by controlling pain and other symptoms, making you as comfortable as possible. It is not intended to either hasten or postpone death. The focus is on caring, not curing. If your condition improves or your cancer goes into remission, hospice care can stop and active treatment can resume.

Choosing hospice care doesn’t mean that you’ve given up hope. Instead, hospice care means you’re changing what you hope for. This could be hoping for good quality of remaining life, including more time with loved ones and friends.

Hospice care can be given in different places. Hospice care most often takes place at home, but it can also be provided in special inpatient facilities, hospitals, and nursing homes. It can also take place along with professional home care if necessary. Hospice services may include:

• Doctor and nursing services
• Medical supplies and equipment
• Drugs for managing cancer-related symptoms and pain
• Short-term inpatient care
• Volunteers to give caregivers a break
• Counseling and spiritual care
• Social work services
• Grief counseling and support

Hospice professionals and volunteers are specially trained. They are committed to supporting the emotional needs of both patients and their families, and are trained to deal with medical symptoms.  The hospice team usually includes doctors, nurses, home health aides, social workers, clergy or other counselors, and trained volunteers. The team may also include speech, physical, and occupational therapists, if needed. The hospice team will focus on your goals for end-of-life care, basing your care plan on your needs and desires.

Hospice can provide support for months. Even though many people believe that hospice is only available in the last days or weeks of life, it can provide support for months. Many people have said that they wished hospice care had begun earlier. They were surprised by the expert care and understanding that they got from hospice caregivers.

Your doctor must certify that you are eligible for hospice care. Most insurance plans, including Medicare, will cover hospice care once they receive a statement by both your attending doctor and the hospice medical director that states you have a life expectancy of 6 months or less. You would also sign a statement saying that you’re choosing hospice care. Hospice care can be continued if you live longer than 6 months, as long as your hospice doctor (and regular doctor if you still have one) recertifies your condition.

The hospice team or insurance provider can answer questions about whether certain care decisions, such as getting a second opinion or taking part in a clinical trial while in hospice care, would affect eligibility for hospice services.

Medicare and most Medicaid and private insurance plans pay for hospice services. Medicare is a government health insurance program for the elderly and disabled that is overseen by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS). For information:

• The Medicare hotline can answer your questions about hospice benefits and Medicare-certified hospice programs. Call 1–800–MEDICARE (1–800–633–4227); callers with TTY equipment can call 1–877–486–2048.
• The Medicare website has other tips and resources about coverage for hospice, including the booklet Medicare Hospice Benefits.

Medicaid, a federal–state partnership program that is part of CMS and is administered  by each state, is designed for people who need financial help for medical expenses. Information about coverage is available from local state welfare offices, state public health departments, state social services agencies, or the state Medicaid office. Information about specifc state locations can be found online.

Information about the types of costs covered by a particular private health policy is available from your hospital business office or hospice social worker, or from your insurance company.

Local civic, charitable, or religious organizations may also be able to help patients and their families with hospice expenses.

The following organizations can provide more information about hospice.

National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization
1–800–658–8898 (helpline)
1–877–658–8896 (multilingual line)
caringinfo@nhpco.org
http://www.caringinfo.orgExit Disclaimer

The National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization’s Caring Connections website offers information and publications focused on improving end-of-life care for adults and children. The site includes a database of national hospice programs. Some Spanish-language publications are available.