Palliative Care

Palliative Care Services

Alliance Hospice Care provides medical supplies, medications related to the terminal illness and equipment needed to manage the comfort and individualized needs of palliative care patients in their homes. Palliative care is a term derived from Latin palliare, “to cloak”. Palliative Care is a specialized treatment option that offers advanced pain and symptom management to patients with chronic, progressive illness – such as, heart disease, lung disease, dementia or cancer – regardless of their prognosis. The term “palliative care” refers to any care that alleviates symptoms, even if there is hope of a cure by other means. It is an approach that focuses on the relief of pain, symptoms, and emotional stress brought on by serious illness. In some cases, palliative treatments may be used to alleviate the side effects of curative treatment, such as relieving the nausea associated with chemotherapy, which may help you tolerate more aggressive or longer-term treatment.

Your disease doesn’t have to be terminal for you to qualify for palliative care and, in the U.S., many palliative treatments are covered by Medicare.

Palliative care begins from the understanding that every patient has his or her own story, relationships and culture, and is worthy of respect as a unique individual. This respect includes giving the best available medical care and making the advances of recent decades fully available, so that all have the best chance of using their time well.

Palliative care has no agenda. The heart of this type of care is a team of professionals who get to know the patients, their loved ones and caregivers. Understanding patients and families ensures that the treatments match their goals, not the goals of health team or health plan.

Helping the Patient

Palliative care focuses on helping the patient by alleviating symptoms such as pain, shortness of breath, fatigue, depression, nausea, difficulty sleeping, constipation, and loss of appetite. It also helps people gain the strength to carry on with daily activities. It can also improves the patients ability to tolerate medical treatments.

Palliative care is provided for a number of illnesses including, but not limited to, cancer, kidney failure, cardiac disease such as congestive heart failure (CHF), Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), and Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS).

A Holistic Approach

Palliative care is a holistic approach to meeting the unique needs of patients at any age and stage of an illness.

Contact Alliance Hospice Care directly for a private consultation to learn more about our Palliative care services at (617) 402-5202