What is "Palliative Care"? It is "HOPE"!



The Institute of Medicine (1997) defined palliative care as care which ". . .seeks to prevent, relieve, reduce, or soothe the symptoms of disease or disorder without affecting a cure."

Palliative care is medical treatment that is directed to "care" for the physical, spiritual and psychological needs of patients and support for their caretakers.

Palliative care should be available to both adults and children early in the course of any medical treatment, and particularly in treatment of serious, chronic illness.

It should be provided alongside any medical treatment intended to "cure" illness and continued to provide quality of life "care" when there is no cure.

Palliative care is the response to a patient's and family's hope for effective pain management and emotional comfort from physicians, nurses, social workers, chaplains and other health providers who never stop caring, who never give up on comfort, who always put the patient first.  Palliative care is the "good news"  in difficult times of serious, chronic illness.




Contact:  Annette Prince,  annette-prince@ouhsc.edu