Palliative care is often misunderstood. Some people view it as 'doing nothing' for patients and families. Others believed that palliative care is an option for only the final days of life when all treatments and medications have been stopped. Palliative care is far more than these very limiting definitions. On Our Own Terms is a four series part on PBS about death and dying in America.
Hospice care is a portion of the broader scope of palliative care.
Hospice care is a home care service serving a person and his family in the last six months of life. Palliative care can be of benefit earlier in the disease process, providing care in the hospital setting, palliative care unit, or outpatient clinic. Palliative Care and Hospice often work together o provide care to families and patients. Any person suffering with symptoms of illness may be appropriate for some form of palliative intervention. The emerging approach is to provide palliative care to patients with advanced disease without a specified prognosis.