Palliative Care is the comprehensive management of physical, psychological, and spiritual needs of patients and families. The focus is to improve quality of life emphasizing care of the whole person, including family and loved ones. Palliative care is based on a specialized body of medical knowledge, and is carried out by a multidisciplinary team. It is primarily for persons with advanced, progressive disease that is no longer responsive to curative treatment. The intensity and range of palliative care interventions may increase as the illness progresses.
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.