Information and Resources for Healthcare Professionals

What is Palliative Care?

What is Palliative Care? exA m P les of Palliative care focuses on the relief of pain, symptoms and the stress of serious illness. Typical Palliative Care Referrals: • The goal is to reduce suffering and improve quality of life for individuals and families. Patient/family/physician needs help • Palliative care is provided at any stage of an illness with complex treatment decision- and can be provided simultaneously with curative making and determination of treatment. care goals • Palliative care is typically provided by an interdisciplinary team of professionals that may Patient is experiencing physical include, but is not limited to: physicians, advanced pain, psychosocial or spiritual practice nurses, registered nurses, social workers, suffering and/or other symptom chaplains, pharmacists and dietitians, depending distress upon the needs of the patient and family. Prolonged hospital stay without • For many individuals, it is transitioning from evidence of improvement one setting to another that contributes to poor outcomes with multiple re-hospitalizations. ICU patient with documented poor Palliative care may be provided in a variety of prognosis settings, (hospitals, nursing homes, hospices, assisted living, home, and out-patient clinics) Withdrawal of life-support in in order to assure continuity of care in multiple the ICU settings over the course of the disease process. Care of the dying patient and Why Should a Primary Care Physician, support of the family Oncologist or Other Specialist Refer to a Assistance needed to determine Palliative Care Team? hospice eligibility • For support to seriously ill patients who have complex pain and symptom management issues. • For support to seriously ill patients who have a high need for patient and family communication. • To bring the entire team to the table in addressing multiple issues facing the patient and family. • To meet the communication needs of the patient and ensure fully informed consent, based on the benefits and burdens of the treatments and the wishes of the patient and family.

Frequently Asked Questions

Who Sets the Standards for Quality Who provides Palliative Care in Palliative Care Organizations? My Community? • National Consensus Project www.nationalconsensusproject.org • National Quality Forum www.qualityforum.org

Have a Question About Palliative Care? • Center to Advance Palliative Care www.capc.org • End of Life/Palliative Education Resource Center (EPERC) www.eperc.mcw.edu • National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization www.nhpco.org

Interested in Becoming a courses and national conferences. The web site lists upcoming educational opportunities and provides Palliative Care Professional? other professional resources. • American Academy of Hospice and Palliative • The following is a selection of colleges offering Medicine (AAHPM) www.aahpm.org courses in palliative care – see web sites for The American Academy of Hospice and Palliative current information on each program. Medicine (AAHPM) is an organization of physicians Daemen College, Amherst NY and other medical professionals dedicated to www.daemen.edu excellence in and advancement of palliative medicine through prevention and relief of patient madonna University, livonia mI www.madonna.edu and family suffering by providing education and clinical practice standards, fostering research, medical University of south Carolina, facilitating personal and professional development, Charleston sC and by public policy advocacy. The web site www.musc.edu includes meetings, self-study opportunities, New York University, New York NY publications, and a continuing education www.nyu.edu curriculum. University of Alabama, Birmingham Al • Hospice and Palliative Nursing Association (HPNA) www.main.uab.edu www.hpna.org University of California, san francisco CA Hospice and Palliative Nursing Association (HPNA) www.ucsf.edu is a nationally recognized organization providing University of Illinois, Chicago Il resources and support for advanced practice nurses, www.uic.edu registered nurses, licensed practical nurses, and Ursuline College, Pepper Pike oH nursing assistants who care for those with palliative www.ursuline.edu care needs. The web site includes details on Vanderbilt University, Nashville TN educational offerings and testing for certification www.vanderbilt.edu and credentialing in palliative care. • The National Hospice and Palliative Care foR moR e INfoR m ATIo N Organization (NHPCO) www.nhpco.org. The National Hospice and Palliative Care contact Caring Connections Organization (NHPCO), the leader in end-of- www.caringinfo.org life care education, offers a variety of learning [email protected] opportunities throughout the year via online HelpLine 800.658.8898 Multilingual Line 877.658.8896