Courtesy of Hospice & Palliative Care Buffalo

Various medical and therapeutic treatments are designed to promote health and well-being by curing disease. Although some diseases do not have a cure, managing the effects of the disease is still possible. This special type of disease management is called palliative care. Both palliative care and hospice care focus on helping manage symptoms and improving quality of life. Hospice care can begin when a patient has a life expectancy of 6 months or less, and is no longer receiving treatment. Palliative care can begin much earlier, including at the time of diagnosis and while receiving treatment for the disease. As with hospice, palliative care focuses on improving the patient’s quality of life and ensuring that their physical and psychosocial symptoms are under control.

Progressive diseases and their treatment cause suffering and rob individuals of their life quality. By managing patients’ symptoms in a home setting, palliative care enables patients and families to live with and manage their illness more comfortably.

The National Institute on Aging notes that palliative care is interdisciplinary, which means it involves a variety of doctors and care providers who work together with patients and families to address each individual’s goals and values. At Hospice & Palliative Care Buffalo, we prioritize comfort and support in both hospice and palliative care settings through alleviating pain, managing symptoms, and providing care that encompasses the whole person. The difference is that palliative care can be utilized as soon as the patient is diagnosed.

Patients living with serious illness often experience pain, nausea, fatigue, and shortness of breath. Palliative care specialists utilize strategies and medications to alleviate these symptoms, allowing people to remain as active as possible. Some of the conditions for which patients receive palliative care include cancer, heart disease, blood and bone marrow disorders, dementia, kidney failure, lung disease, liver disease, and stroke.

The benefits of palliative care include collaboration among an individual’s primary care physician and specialists to help minimize emergency room visits and hospitalizations, provide access to a 24/7 on-call nurse to answer questions and coordinate care, and offer emotional support and strategies to help reduce stress, all of which contribute to providing peace of mind for patients, as well as family members.

According to a study published in the New England Journal of Medicine, patients with serious illness who received palliative care lived longer than those who did not add this extra layer of support. By focusing on comfort, compassion, and support, palliative care not only prolongs life, but improves the lives of patients and families living with a chronic, progressive disease.

Services provided by Hospice & Palliative Care Buffalo include symptom management, collaboration with physicians and specialists, 24/7 on-call nurse support, ongoing education, emotional support, assistance navigating the medical system, linkage to community resources, developing goals of care, assistance with advance care planning, and more. Learn more at https://www.hospicebuffalo.com/our-services/palliative-care, or call 716-686-8000 to help determine if palliative care can help you or someone you love.