Palliative care provides care to people who are living with or dying from advanced illness or are bereaved.  The goals of palliative care are comfort and dignity for the person living with advanced illness as well as the best quality of life for this person and his or her family. A “family ” may include relatives, partners and friends. Palliative Care Services may be helpful in the early stages of an illness. It may be combined with the treatment aimed at reducing the illness.

Palliative care includes:

• Expert medical care to help with pain and other symptoms
• Assisting with decisions about treatments
• Social, psychological, emotional and spiritual support
• Occupational therapy and physiotherapy support
• Support for family caregivers
• Arranging for respite care to give at-home caregivers a break
• Trained volunteers to visit with patients and give emotional support both in hospital and in the community
• Information about financial, legal and other services
• Counseling to help to adjust to change and loss
• Telephone counseling in crisis situations
• End of life care
• Ongoing grief and bereavement support after the death of a loved one
• Support and education of the professional caregiver
• Research

Last Updated: 6/21/2007 11:23:22 AM