• Pain and symptom management
• Treatment for distressing symptoms, such as anxiety and depression
• Physical, occupational, or speech therapy

• Discussion of patient wishes and overall goals of care and development of treatment plans
• Education for patients and families about palliative care, diseases, and treatment of symptoms
• Ongoing support and coordination of care with the primary physician
• Work with hospice programs, if appropriate, to coordinate care and address questions
• Assistance with accessing Medicare, Medicaid, and other benefits
• Support for family members experiencing caregiver stress, grief, and bereavement
• Help with difficult decisions often encountered, including:
  • Assigning a durable power of attorney for healthcare
  • Living wills and other advanced directives
  • Decisions about “DNR” or resuscitation
  • Decisions about feeding tubes, artificial nutrition, and hydration
  • Decisions about hospice care

Palliative care services are designed for persons dealing with serious and advanced illness. Palliative care provides an additional layer of support for patients and families who feel overwhelmed by physical and emotional symptoms of disease, stress, caregiving, navigating a complex health system, and/or making complicated medical decisions.

Palliative care expands the traditional model of healthcare, which focuses on treating disease, to include enhancing quality of life, improving function, supporting caregiving, and helping with decision-making. It can be delivered in addition to usual life-prolonging care or as the main focus of care. Some illnesses that may benefit from palliative care are end-stage or advanced congestive heart failure, cirrhosis, kidney failure, chronic lung disease, dementia, Parkinson’s disease, multiple sclerosis, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, cancer and recurrent stroke.

The typical palliative care team includes a physician, nurse practitioner and social worker specializing in palliative care. Many teams also include chaplains, clinical pharmacists, and other advanced practice providers. The palliative care team works collaboratively with patients, their families, and their primary health providers.

The role of the palliative care team is to support and advocate for the patient and their family. Its main goal is to improve or maintain a patient’s quality of life, wellbeing, and independence. It also aims to ensure patients receive medical treatment that is beneficial and in line with their personal goals and values.