Patients facing terminal or long-term illness lose more than their lives. They also face the potential loss of their independence, social life, mobility, and dignity. So many intangible feelings lie at the heart of being human.
Hospice and palliative care were created to help these patients deal with pain and find joy in a changed life. Yet many people don’t understand how these programs work or how they differ. The best way to ensure that a patient takes advantage of available resources is to let them know that they exist in the first place.
The Power of Palliative Care
Palliative care programs support and care for patients who suffer from a chronic disease. It aims to manage symptoms while also supporting mental, emotional, and spiritual health. By using these tools, it is hoped that a patient’s quality of life improves.
Unlike hospice care, palliative care can be provided at any stage of life. Once diagnosed with a long-term illness, patients can request a caregiver anytime to support them during their difficult transition. In addition to managing pain and emotions, patients learn new ways to engage with life despite the change.
Palliative care providers can vary. Medical professionals, chaplains, and home care providers create the backbone of a system that promotes joy through living.
Affirming Life Through Hospice Care
Technically, hospice is a subset of palliative care. Much like Alzheimer’s disease is a subset of dementia. Hospice is palliative care with a narrower view which focuses strictly on terminally ill patients.
Hospice care is only offered to patients with a doctor’s diagnosis of six months or less to live. Rather than looking for a cure, the system manages a patient’s symptoms and the side-effects that come from facing their own mortality. Hospice helps patients face their fears, find acceptance, and enjoy the time they have left.
Neither hospice nor palliative care provides medical services. Instead, they work with patients and their loved ones to find happiness in the day-to-day. Hospice helps patients process death by affirming life through love and family.
Hospice care doesn’t mean that a patient has given up on life. Rather, they’re making peace with a tough situation. They’ve decided that their precious time is better spent with the people they love than fighting a losing battle. If for some reason, their situation changes, a patient is free to return to treatment.
Without education, understanding the difference between hospice and palliative care can be confusing. Chronically-ill patients may not even know that caregiving programs exist for those who aren’t terminal. Talking about palliative programs is imperative in the fight to improve every patient’s quality of life.
At Hospice Care of the Golden Isles, our team of experts is available to answer any questions you may have about caregiving programs. Plans for compassionate care can even be forged in advance to ease times of turmoil. Call us at 912.265.4735. We serve all of southeast coastal Georgia.