Remember that to many service providers - most home health care agencies and hospice programs, for example, each patient is a source of revenue. So once again, the patient and family must understand and explore the situation rather than blindly follow what someone else says is best. When there is more than one source for a service, the different sources should be compared in terms of what they offer, the way in which it is offered, and the cost. Of course most services present their best face to potential customers. Services and ways to compare them are discussed below.
Palliative care is care directed to relief of symptoms rather than or along with cure.
For brevity's sake we will use the term hospice henceforth. Hospice staff should have specialized training in symptom management and other aspects of terminal care. Most hospices have services that are similar at least in description. Core staff and services usually include nurses, physicians, home health aides, chaplains, nutritionists, social workers, psychologists, volunteers, physical and occupational therapists, and bereavement services. It is unfortunate that hospice referrals are usually made in the last month or weeks of life when the patient is very ill, symptoms are severe, and the family exhausted.