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Palliative care: Symptom relief during illness
Palliative care can provide pain and symptom relief, support, and coordinated, holistic care for people who have serious illnesses. Find out more about palliative care.
By Mayo Clinic staffIf you or a loved one has a serious or life-threatening illness, you might have thought about palliative care. To understand palliative care and how it can help relieve pain and improve quality of life, consider the following questions.
What is palliative care?
Palliative care is a multidisciplinary medical specialty that aims to improve quality of life for people who have serious or life-threatening illnesses. Palliative care takes into account the person's emotional, physical and spiritual needs and goals — as well as the needs of his or her family.
Palliative care doesn't replace primary medical treatment. Instead, palliative care is provided in conjunction with all other medical treatment.
How is palliative care different from hospice?
Palliative care is available at any time during a serious or life-threatening illness, while hospice care is available only at the end of life — when curative or life-prolonging treatments have been stopped. You don't have to be in hospice to receive palliative care.
Who can benefit from palliative care?
Anyone who has a serious or life-threatening illness can benefit from palliative care, either to treat symptoms of the disease, such as pain or shortness of breath, or to ease the side effects of treatment, such as fatigue or nausea.
Palliative care may be a good option for someone with a serious illness who needs help:
- Managing pain or other symptoms
- Understanding and coping with his or her condition
- Navigating the health care system
(1 of 2)
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- Clary PL, et al. Pharmacologic pearls for end-of-life care. American Family Physician. 2009;79:1059.
- Bradley CT, et al. Developing guidelines that identify patients who could benefit from palliative care services in the surgical intensive care unit. Critical Care Medicine. 2009;47:946.
- Teno JM, et al. Referring a patient and family to high-quality palliative care at the close of life. Journal of the American Medical Association. 2009;301:651.
- Palliative care: The relief you need when you're experiencing the symptoms of serious illness. National Institute of Nursing Research. http://www.ninr.nih.gov/NewsAndInformation/NINRPublications. Accessed Dec. 18, 2012.
- Moynihan TJ (expert opinion). Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minn. Dec. 18, 2012.
- AskMayoExpert. Palliative care and end-of-life hospice. Rochester, Minn.: Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research; 2012.
- Meier DE, et al. Palliative care: Benefits, services, and models of care. http://www.uptodate.com/index. Accessed Dec. 18, 2012.
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