Palliative and supportive care are two different types of care that many people are unfamiliar with. While they both focus on improving quality of life, they’re not interchangeable terms. In this article, we’ll explain what palliative and supportive care are and how they differ from each other to help you better understand them.
Palliative care and supportive care are not interchangeable terms.
When people hear the phrase “palliative care,” they may assume that this means the same thing as supportive care. However, they are not interchangeable terms.
Palliative care is a medical specialty that focuses on improving the quality of life for people with serious illnesses such as cancer or dementia and their families. Palliative medicine practitioners use medicines and other treatments to relieve symptoms associated with these illnesses while balancing patient goals and preferences.
They also work closely with patients’ primary physicians to help them understand how their condition will affect them over time so that appropriate treatment can be provided at any given time based on pre-determined guidelines .
Supportive care involves providing emotional support through counseling sessions or ongoing communication between family members who share similar concerns about their loved one’s health status; helping families make decisions pertaining to end-of-life issues; educating themselves about hospice programs available locally; assisting families who need financial assistance related specifically towards funeral arrangements (or other expenses) incurred during this difficult period.
Both palliative and supportive care address physical, psychological and spiritual needs.
Both palliative and supportive care address physical, psychological and spiritual needs. Palliative care is focused on improving quality of life, while supportive care is focused on improving symptoms. Both are holistic approaches that focus on the whole family (the patient) and the individual (the caregiver).
The goal of both palliative and supportive care is to comfort the individual, not cure their disease or condition.
Palliative care is focused on improving quality of life. It involves treatments such as pain management, nutrition support (such as feeding tubes), hydration therapy and physical therapy for mobility issues caused by cancer or other conditions that limit daily activities. Palliative care should be provided until the end of life; however, it may also be offered during active treatment if there are no obvious signs that a patient needs this type of treatment.
Palliative and supportive care are holistic approaches that incorporate the whole family.
Palliative and supportive care are holistic approaches to illness that incorporate the whole family. In palliative care, your doctor, nurse practitioner or other health professional will work with you and other members of your health team (your family) to determine which treatment options will work best for you.
If a person has an incurable disease but can still live independently for some time after diagnosis, they may be referred to palliative or supportive care specialists who can help them maintain their quality of life while striving toward improving their health outcomes as much as possible.
Palliative and supportive care are two different types of care that can be provided to help people with cancer. Palliative Care Advice focuses on improving the quality of life for patients, while supportive care focuses on symptoms.
Conclusion
Palliative care are different, but they’re both important for people with chronic illnesses. Palliative care aims to improve quality of life, while supportive care is focused on improving symptoms. Palliative care can start at any point in your treatment—even after a diagnosis or disease progression. Both palliative and supportive care address physical, psychological and spiritual needs—and the goal of both is to comfort the individual, not cure their illness.