April 11, 2016
What exactly is palliative care? It’s just a fancy word for ‘end of life care’, right? Not quite! This is a common misconception; one that causes people to shy away from taking advantage of palliative care. This type of “comfort” care can come at the end of life, but its true purpose is to bring relief from symptoms such as pain, vomiting, and nausea that result from either a disease or from the treatment for that disease.
Dr. Eric Widera, who practices palliative care at the University of California, San Francisco, explains, “We hear this all the time: ‘They’re not ready for palliative care,’ as if it’s a stage people have to accept, as opposed to something that should be a routine part of care.”
And although palliative care, like hospice care, focuses on improving quality of life, it’s beneficial at any stage in a patient’s illness for symptom management and can be used in tandem with curative treatments.
Studies are showing a myriad of benefits for patients and their families who choose palliative care, including significantly higher scores on quality of life assessments, less prevalence of depression and emergency room visits, and even longer survival rates. Start experiencing these benefits for yourself!
Continuum is here to expand upon this care for you or your loved ones. We believe in caring for the whole person, and our exceptional caregivers work diligently to improve the quality of life for each patient. Our comfort care includes counseling services, coordination with doctors on treatments, ensuring that medicine is in the home, and many other services. We offer a free consultation to work with you to decide what needs your senior loved one has, and then our experienced caregivers follow through on a personalized plan of care.
With our quality guarantee, you don’t have to look anywhere else for in-home care assistance.
Contact Continuum at (314) 863-9912 or (636) 861-3336 to find out how we can further assist with improving quality of life for seniors receiving either palliative or hospice care.