HealthcareWhat’s the Difference Between Palliative and Hospice Care?

Healthcare is complicated. If you or a loved one has been diagnosed with a serious illness or suffered significant injuries, it can be hard to keep all the new information straight in your head. Learning about healthcare and healthcare services can easily lead to information overload, especially when it comes to palliative care and hospice care.

It’s not uncommon for people to casually use palliative care and hospice care interchangeably, and while there are areas where the two overlap, they are not the same thing. So now you’re probably asking yourself what are their similarities and how are they different? To help clear things up for you, this article will help you understand the difference between palliative care and hospice care.

What Is Palliative Care?

The specifics of palliative care differ with each specific case, but the overall purpose is always the same: help people who are suffering from a serious illness or injury by treating symptoms and side effects. That’s palliative care in a nutshell, but in practice there is much more to it.

When patients have their lives turned upside with a diagnosis, they suffer from more than just the direct effects of the illness. They can also suffer emotionally, socially, and spiritually. Palliative care is given at the same time as treatment and is meant to bring comfort to the patient. Often, when a patient feels supported and their emotional well-being is prioritized, they experience a higher quality of life.

What Illnesses Require Palliative Care?

Palliative care is given to people with many types of illnesses, but the illnesses listed below are among the most common.

• Cancer
• Heart disease
• Lung diseases
• Kidney failure
• Dementia
• ALS (amyotrophic lateral sclerosis)

What Does Palliative Care Entail?

Because every patient’s circumstances are unique, there’s no one-size-fits-all palliative care package that’s easily detailed. But, any patient receiving palliative care will receive help with physical, emotional, or practical problems. Below is a list of common treatment options that patients receiving palliative care will get.

Physical Problems

• Medicine
• Nutritional guidance
• Physical therapy
• Occupational therapy
• Integrative therapies

Emotional And Social Problems

• Counseling
• Support groups
• Family meetings
• Referrals to mental health providers

Practical Problems

• Explain complex medical forms or help families understand treatment choices
• Provide or refer families to financial counseling
• Help connect you to resources for transportation or housing

What Is Hospice Care?

So far, we’ve only looked at palliative care. But if you know anything about hospice care, you’ll know that much of the information about palliative care sounds extremely similar. And you’d be right.

However, there is one major difference. Palliative care may begin as early as the diagnosis and end when the patient feels well enough to stop treatments. On the other hand, hospice care is reserved for patients who have been treated but don’t have a path to survival. Usually, patients won’t be eligible for hospice care unless they have a prognosis of less than six months. Still, the primary goal of providing comfort and improving the quality of life of patients.

Summary

The purpose of both palliative and hospice care is to bring comfort to patients suffering from a serious illness or who have received significant injuries. This care isn’t designed to treat medical issues but to improve the quality of life of patients who are having a difficult time adjusting to their new reality.

Palliative care can start as soon as a patient is diagnosed, whereas hospice care only begins once it is clear the patient only has around six more months to live. Either way, both practices are extremely important for giving people who are experiencing a very difficult time a little bit of well-deserved peace of mind.

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