3 Ways Palliative Care Improves Quality of Life at Home

Palliative care is often misunderstood or confused with hospice care. To put it as simply as possible, palliative care is care for people who have serious illnesses. The idea is to ease symptoms and to make life easier for both the patient and their family. 

When you receive palliative care, your primary care provider is a crucial member of your care team. Our providers and staff at Pinnacle Healthcare System encourage patients who have serious illnesses to consider palliative care because it offers distinct benefits. 

In this post we take a closer look at three of the advantages of palliative care our patients appreciate. 

Your family is included

When you have a serious illness, your life changes and so do the lives of those people who care for you. Scheduling appointments, understanding treatments, managing medications, and all of the other details involved in proper treatment take time and effort. 

Palliative care is designed so your family is involved in your care along with your healthcare team. Your primary care provider works with a specialized team to meet your medical, social, and emotional needs and the needs of your family. 

Your family is included in decision-making (if you want them to be) and treatment planning, and can be connected with social services resources for additional support. In addition, your family may need training in some practical skills to help you at home, especially if they don’t have prior medical training. 

Caregiving is a job with no days off or breaks. It’s common for caregivers to experience emotional distress. Palliative care includes resources for caregivers to find support groups or counseling. 

It’s more than medical care

Your palliative care team addresses your medical needs, but they also help you access other services that you may need. For example, you may need a social worker to help you find resources, or you may need assistance in coordinating your care. 

Often patients who have a serious illness need help arranging transportation, managing medications, or dealing with symptoms, which are often surprising or unexpected. Knowing that your care team is ready and has the resources to help you with those things reduces worry. 

In many cases, you may undergo some kind of transition of care. For example, if you’ve been in the hospital you may need to move to a rehabilitation facility. Sometimes people need to switch from palliative care to hospice. 

Your care team can help you through those kinds of transitions and help you and your family. It can be confusing to understand the medical jargon involved in different specialties or the reason for certain changes. 

Less worry, more healing

Palliative care patients have help with the details, and that means they don’t need to worry as much. You and your family can put more of your focus on healing. Studies show that palliative care significantly improves quality of life for patients and eases symptom burden.

If you have a serious health condition, we encourage you to schedule an appointment at either our Pembroke Pines or Hollywood, Florida, location of Pinnacle Healthcare System to discuss whether palliative care services could help you enjoy a higher quality of life.