This index provides information about clinical trials accessible in Rhode Island. It lists available trials by cancer type and provides contact information for each clinical trial. Palliative Care Palliative care is special care given to patients who are dying. The goals of palliative care are to help patients go about their daily lives as normally as possible, and then, as they are able to do less, to make them as comfortable as possible. The control of pain is a very important part of palliative care.
Hospice care is very successful in controlling cancer pain.
As it is currently offered in the U.S., including Rhode Island, hospice care is not easy to get for patients of low income. It is usually given at home, and depends on family to meet the needs of dying patients 24 hours a day. Hospice care may be given in hospitals and nursing homes, but many of these places have not developed the staff and services needed for good hospice care. For more on Hospice Care, click here. The NCI is the largest U.S. government agency involved in cancer research and training.