To palliate means to make comfortable by treating a person's symptoms from an illness. Hospice and palliative care both focus on helping a person be comfortable by addressing issues causing physical or emotional pain, or suffering. Hospice and other palliative care providers have teams of people working together to provide care. The goals of palliative care are to improve the quality of a seriously ill person's life and to support that person and their family during and after treatment.
Hospice focuses on relieving symptoms and supporting patients with a life expectancy of months, not years, and their families. However, palliative care may be given at any time during a patient's illness; from the initial diagnosis. Most hospices have a set of defined services, team members, and rules and regulations. Some hospices provide palliative care as a separate program or service, which can be very confusing to patients and families.
The list of questions below provides answers to common questions about the difference between hospice and palliative care.
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| Who can receive this care? |
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Anyone with a serious illness, regardless of life expectancy, can receive palliative care |
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Someone with an illness with a life expectancy measured in months not years |
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Can I continue to receive
treatments to cure my illness? |
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You may receive palliative care and curative care at the same time |
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Treatments and medicines aimed at relieving symptoms are provided by hospice |
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| Does Medicare pay? |
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Some treatments and medications may be covered |
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Medicare pays all charges related to hospice |
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| Does Medicaid pay? |
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Some treatments and medications may be covered |
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In 47 states, Medicaid pays all charges related to hospice |
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| Does private insurance pay? |
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Some treatments and medications may be covered |
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Most insurance plans have a hospice benefit |
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| Is this a package deal? |
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No, there is no 'palliative care' package, the services are flexible and based on the patient's needs |
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Medicare and Medicaid hospice benefits are package deals |
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| How long can I receive care? |
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This will depend upon your care needs, and the coverage you have through Medicare, Medicaid or private insurance |
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As long as you meet the hospice's criteria of an illness with a life expectancy of months not years |
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What organization provides these services?
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- Hospitals
- Hospices
- Nursing Facilities
- Health Care Clinics
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- Hospice organizations
- Hospice programs based out of a hospital
- Other health care organizations
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Where are services provided?
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- Home
- Assisted living facility
- Nursing facility
- Hospital
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- Usually, wherever the patient resides, in their home, assisted living facility, nursing facility, or hospital.
- Some hospices have facilities where people can live, like a hospice residence, or receive care for short-term reasons, such as acute pain or symptom management.
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| Who provides these services? |
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It varies. However usually there is a team including doctors, nurses, social workers and chaplains, similar to the hospice team. |
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A team - doctor, nurse, social worker, chaplain, volunteer, home health aide and others. |
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| Do they offer expert end-of-life care? |
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This varies, be sure to ask |
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Yes, staff are experts in end-of-life care |
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For more information, please visit the Center to Advance Palliative Care and the National Consensus Project.
Click here to continue on to Hospice Checklist
If you have a question that isn't addressed above, email Caring Connections. Caring Connections, a program of the National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization (NHPCO), is a national consumer engagement initiative to improve care at the end of life, supported by a grant from The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.
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