This article explores the elements of palliative care along with the types of treatments that may be involved.
It also details when palliative care is needed, including the criteria used by healthcare professionals and health insurers.
What Is Palliative Care?
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Palliative care isnotrestricted to people receiving end-of-life care.
Who Provides Palliative Care?
Palliative care is typically carried out by a team of professionals who can address multiple concerns.
It may be offered by hospitals, home care agencies, cancer treatment centers, and long-term care facilities.
The care team may include:
Palliative care is a specialized field of medicine.
For doctors, board certification in palliative care is through the American Board of Medical Specialities (ABMS).
Nurses and nurse practitioners can get certified through several credentialing organizations.
Ultimately, the most important member of the care team is you.
Palliative care should be directed toward meeting your personal goals and needs.
It is important to make your wishes known and to encourage your family and caregivers to do the same.
What Are the Types of Palliative Care?
Improving someones quality of life involves tending to more than just their physical concerns.
Hospice and palliative care are similar, but they do have important differences.
Hospice care is end-of-life care.
It is reserved for people who are believed to be in the last weeks or months of life.
What Diseases Are Treated With Palliative Care?
Historically, palliative care was used in people withincurable cancerand was largely synonymous with hospice care.
Over time, the definition has evolved and broadened.
Today, palliative care can be applied to many serious terminal or non-terminal conditions.
There may also be eligibility criteria for insurance coverage.
Many private insurance plans cover palliative care.Medicareonly covers palliative care for certain conditions.
How Do You Get Palliative Care?
Palliative care is often delivered by a team of providers, including medical and allied health professionals.
National Institute on Aging.What are palliative care and hospice care?.
Center to Advance Palliative Care.For clinicians.
National Library of Medicine: MedlinePlus.What is palliative care?.
American Academy of Hospice and Palliative Medicine.Certification.
A retrospective cohort study.BMJ Open.
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2017;28(1):163-168. doi:10.1093/annonc/mdw438
MedicareAdvantage.com.Does Medicare cover palliative care?.
