Many people wonder what the difference between hospice care and palliative care is. If you have never had a family member in hospice care or palliative care, it’s natural that you would not be familiar with it. There is some overlap between the services provided by hospice care and palliative care, but there are distinct differences as well. The team at Suncrest Home Health and Hospice of Fremont explains each below.
What Is Hospice Care?
Hospice care is for patients at the end stage of their disease, expected to live six months or less. In hospice care, we provide pain relief, but no lifesaving treatments. To enter hospice, patients must have made the decision to stop treatments intended to prolong life, such as chemotherapy, dialysis, insulin injections, etc.
Making the decision to enter hospice care is difficult. Coming to terms with our own death can be unpleasant. But treatment for disease can be uncomfortable as well. Chemotherapy causes nausea and fatigue. Surgery can be painful and recovery can be long and difficult. Moreover, these measures may not help prolong life. Patients grow tired of the treatments and eventually choose to live out their last days without lifesaving treatments or drugs.
That doesn’t mean they don’t receive any drugs, however. The goal of hospice is to keep patients comfortable, and pain relievers are often part of this.
What Is Palliative Care?
Palliative care is also meant to make patients feel comfortable. However, palliative care can be delivered at the same time patients receive treatment for their disease or condition. Although most people associate palliative care with end-of-life care, this is not necessarily the case.
Patients suffering from chronic or acute diseases for which a cure is not expected may receive palliative care. For example, without treatment, a patient on dialysis would live only a week or two. If the patient has been on dialysis for a long time and wants to discontinue, they may enter hospice care, where hospice workers would keep them comfortable in their last days.
However, patients who want to continue with their dialysis treatments but would like help with pain management, stress, coping skills and other methods of living with their disease would opt for palliative care. Those battling other illnesses might need assistance with resultant symptoms such as nausea and sleeplessness.
While both hospice and palliative care are comfort care, hospice care is more end-of-life, while palliative care can be ongoing for many months or years.
Although palliative care is considered comfort care and not lifesaving, it can lengthen a patient’s life by reducing their stress levels and improving their quality of life. Anxiety and depression in the presence of serious physical illness can shorten life, while relieving patients of these to some extent can help prolong it.
Hospice Care at Suncrest
Although hospice care is end-of-life care, patients in hospice also get the benefit of receiving therapy and counseling from trained professionals, including spiritual advisors.
If you or a loved one is considering palliative or hospice care, talk to the team at Suncrest Home Health and Hospice of Fremont. Our social workers and hospice nurses can answer your questions to help you and your family make a decision.
