Palliative Care and Hospice Care are often thought of as interchangeable. However, they are very different in terms of the services they provide and their overall purpose. Therefore, if you or your loved one is considering this type of care, you need to understand the very real differences between these two types of care in order to determine which option is ideally suited to your situation. It is understandable that these two types of care are sometimes confused as they do offer a measure of similar care, like providing symptom relief and comfort care. At Doctor’s Choice Home Care & Hospice, we offer both types of care, so we are happy to help you learn more after you determine which particular service fits best in your case. Read on to learn more:
Hospice Care is a type of compassionate comfort care that is designed to provide comfort instead of being curative. It is ideally suited for patients who have been diagnosed with a terminal illness and have a prognosis of six months or less to live, according to medical estimations. Hospice care is created to come alongside patients and their families as they navigate the end-of-life process. It can involve helping keep patients as pain-free as possible and seeing to all their needs, but it can also involve counseling, helping with paperwork, setting up end-of-life plans, and simply coming alongside a family to help them walk this path. It is not designed to cure a disease but instead to make the time left as valuable as possible.
Palliative Care is another type of specialized care. It is designed to provide symptom relief to patients who are living with life-limiting illnesses. In many cases, it is utilized alongside curative treatments in order to maintain a high-quality of life for patients. In other words, these patients are suffering from significant illnesses but are still seeking curative treatments instead of wanting to ease pain as death approaches. Patients with heart failure, dementia, Parkinson's, cancer, and other serious illnesses are often good candidates for this type of care. However, once they move more towards the terminal side of things, then their care will switch over towards Hospice. Palliative Care is designed to provide comfort and ease symptoms of patients who are either undergoing treatment currently or have just come through treatment. It is also a service specifically created to improve the quality of life for patients.
While there are some similarities between these two types of specialized services, as you can see above, they do differ in some specific ways. For example, Palliative Care goes hand-in-hand with treatments and curative efforts to continue to treat or fight back against the progression of a disease or illness. Hospice Care does not include curative options; instead, it is about making the time a patient is still alive more comfortable and positive. In addition, in many cases, Hospice Services are paid for by standard insurance companies like Medicare and Medicaid, along with private insurance. Palliative services are usually either paid for by the patient or through private insurance. Hospice is also most often designed for patients who have less than six months to live, while Palliative Care can be for patients at various stages of their illness.
As mentioned above, these two types of care are often used interchangeably. This is likely because there are some elements of care that these both offer that can overlap. For example, helping patients reduce stress levels and giving a level of comfort and pain relief are part of both services. Also, the presence of serious illness is a factor in both as well, although the stage for Hospice Care tends to more towards the end of life than with Palliative Services. In addition, both types of services can come alongside family members and caregivers and provide a measure of support, education, and even counseling, as both offer vital help in the throes of the immense challenges presented when dealing with serious illness.
Both Hospice and Palliative Care services are necessary, appreciated, and life-impacting, not only for patients themselves but for family members and friends who love them. If you think you or a loved one might be a good candidate for any of the services offered at Doctor’s Choice Home Care & Hospice, contact us today to learn more. We are ready and willing to walk with you through this difficult time and to provide a measure of hope and comfort that will improve your quality of life overall.
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