Focuses on who you are as a person--your preferences, values, and goals--and matches your health care to these
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Palliative care teams give you a voice in your health care by taking time to get to know who you and those close to you are as people first (not patients). They make sure the health care you get matches your goals, values, and preferences.
Help with advance care planning (advance health care directives/ health care power of attorney)
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Palliative care teams take time to talk to you about what matters most to you, and what you would want if you become so ill that you could not make decisions for yourself. This whole process is called advance care planning. Part of it involves completing an advance health care directive. Visit our advance care planning page and advance care planning workshops page to learn more.
Expert holistic health care to ease and relieve (to "palliate") suffering, distressing symptoms, stress, and pain
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Palliative care is expert holistic health care provided by a team that is focused on easing and relieving pain, stress, and symptoms that can affect your whole self when living with a serious disease: your body, mind, emotions, and spirit. Your social and cultural selves and needs are also valued and addressed. The team provides relief in various ways: through medications, treatments, psychological counseling, spiritual counseling, caregiver support, connection to resources, helping with financial concerns, and more.
Expert communication: time to talk about you, your disease, treatment options, and decisions
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Palliative care providers are experts in communication, especially about hard things. They take time to understand what you and those close to you need and want to know about your illness and treatment options, and then talk to you about it. You can receive counseling, coaching, help in planning for the future, help with decision making, help understanding treatment options, and help in advocating for yourself from a palliative care team. Often, your palliative care team is able to visit with you for a longer amount of time than you may be able to have with your other health care providers.
Different from hospice, which is a type of palliative care available at the very end of life
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Palliative care and hospice are part of the same family, as both types of care aim to comfort, relieve suffering, and are provided by a team.
Hospice is a type of palliative care that is provided at the very end of someone's life, when doctors estimate they have six months or less to live. People who "go on hospice" no longer receive treatments, medications, and procedures meant to cure or prolong their life. Read more about the differences between hospice and palliative care on our webpage here.
Provided by an interdisciplinary team, with YOU and those close to you at the center of the team
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Palliative care is provided by a whole team of nurses, social workers, spiritual care providers, and doctors. While your other teams focus on treating and/or curing the direct causes of your illness, palliative care teams focus on treating all the side effects, symptoms, pain, and distress that can come when living with a serious illness. You do not stop seeing any of your health care teams when you choose to see palliative care. The palliative care team is just another player there to support you. However, you and those close to you are the most important part of your health care team-- the "co-captains!" The palliative team cares for your loved ones too. They are invited to come to appointments, and "family meetings" are a common part of palliative care. Our Stanford Caregiver Center also supports caregivers' needs.
Help with coordinating your care among all your healthcare providers
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Often people who have serious diseases have many doctors, specialists, and health care providers involved in their care. Palliative care providers can help coordinate the health care you are getting. They often talk to your other health care providers and coordinate about your care. They advocate for you to assure your goals and wishes are guiding everyone involved in caring for you. The whole palliative care team itself meets regularly to discuss and coordinate your care as well.
How do I know if palliative care is right for me or a loved one?
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Are you: experiencing pain, symptoms or stress that aren't getting better? Feeling weaker and less able to go about your regular daily activities? Going to the hospital or emergency department repeatedly for the same things? Wanting more information about your illness, treatment options, and help making decisions and planning? Needing psychological or spiritual support?
Are you living with a serious illness? Examples are: cancer, heart diseases, lung diseases, liver disease, kidney disease, dementia, HIV/AIDS, and / or any other type of illness that could limit the length of your life.
If the answer is yes to either of the above, it is a good idea to ask your health care team about palliative care.
Living as well as possible for as long as possible with a serious illness (starting as soon as possible!)
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Palliative care is available at any age and any stage of a serious illness. You do not have to or need to give up or stop receiving any of the other treatments, procedures, medications, etc. you are getting from other doctors when you see palliative care. You just get a palliative care team's support in addition to all of your other care. You can think of palliative care teams as experts in treating suffering of any kind, or in improving your quality of life. You and those close to you can get the most benefits from palliative care the sooner you get it after being diagnosed. It is about living as well as possible for as long as possible.
How do I get palliative care?
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See if your health care system has palliative care. Most hospitals and health care systems offer palliative care. Check with this nationwide palliative care directory to see if it's available where you live: https://getpalliativecare.org/provider-directory/
Ask your primary health care team for some time to talk about your illness and about palliative care. Ask for a separate appointment or time at your next appointment to talk more about your illness and about palliative care.
Explain the reasons you think palliative care would be good for you or a loved one.
Ask your health care team to refer you to a palliative care team.
Who pays for palliative care?
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Most health insurance plans, including Medicare and Medicaid, cover all or parts of palliative care, if received while in the hospital, outpatient clinic, rehabilitation, or skilled nursing facility. It's covered just like other medical or hospital services. You may have a copay for palliative care, as you do for other covered services. Some health insurances will cover palliative care services provided in the community, outside of the hospital.
In California, MediCal covers palliative care if certain criteria are met for people living with advanced: cancer, congestive heart failure (CHF), chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), and/or liver disease.
It is good to make sure you know what copays or fees you will be asked to pay. You can call your health insurance plan directly, or ask the palliative care team to help you.
Read more about health insurance coverage at Get Palliative Care.
Expert care to relieve suffering for your whole self and your loved ones, available at any age and stage of a serious illness
Palliative care is expert holistic health care provided by a team that you and those close to you can get at any stage and any age when living with a serious illness. While your other health care teams focus on treating or curing the direct causes of your illness, the palliative care team's goal is to treat and manage the hard side effects, symptoms, pain, and distress that come when living with a serious illness and getting treatments and medications for it. This gives you and your loved ones ease, relief and comfort ("palliation"), so you can live as well as possible for as long as possible. In short, palliative care wants you and your loved ones to have more good days. Palliative care teams are sometimes called experts in "quality of life," or experts in treating suffering.
Examples of serious illnesses people who commonly see palliative care teams have are: cancer, heart failure, lung disease (like chronic obstructive pulmonary disease), liver disease, kidney disease, dementia, and others that are known to not be curable and could limit the length of your life.
A team approach, focused on the goals and values of YOU and those close to you
Palliative care teams are usually made up of: social workers, doctors, nurses, and spiritual care providers. Each different team member is an expert on the different parts that make up your overall health: physical, mental, emotional, spiritual, social, and cultural. This is important because serious illnesses don't just affect your physical health--they can affect all the other parts of you too.
Palliative care believes YOU and those close to you are the most important parts of your health care team. Palliative care teams take time to get to know you and your loved ones as people first, not patients. They learn about what's important to you, and what you value. They can help guide you to the receive best possible care to match your goals and values. They make sure you and your loved ones have all the information about your disease and treatments that you want. You have a say in your healthcare, and palliative care teams advocate so that what you and loved ones want for your health care is known and followed.
Coordinated health care
Each member of the palliative team works closely with the other members about your care. Often, palliative care team meetings are held daily, so the whole team communicates often. Each member of your palliative care team also talks to and coordinates their care with the care you're receiving from your other health care providers. You do not need to "give up" or stop seeing any of your health care providers when you see a palliative care team. Palliative care is another essential player working with all your other providers to make sure the care you get matches your values, preferences, and goals.
See our homepage for more information and for stories from people who received palliative care.
Palliative care may be right for you if you are living with a serious illness
Some examples of serious illnesses are:
- Cancer
- Dementia, like Alzheimers disease or Parkinson's disease
- Heart disease, like congestive heart failure (CHF)
- Lung disease, like chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD)
- Liver disease
- Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS)
- End stage HIV/AIDS
- End stage kidney disease
Palliative care may be right for you if your serious illness is causing you and/or your loved ones a lot of distress
You may find palliative care helpful if your serious illness is:
- Causing physical, emotional, and/or spiritual distress that is not lessening with the care you are already receiving
- Causing you to go to the hospital or emergency department repeatedly
- Making you weaker, and less able to take care of yourself and go about your normal day or function in a meaningful way
- Making you unsure about what the future holds for you, and you want more information about what treatment options there are for you so you can make informed decisions
- Limiting your ability to find joy and meaning in your life
- Changing your life or circumstances and making it harder to cope
- Putting a lot of stress on your caregivers
The earlier, the better
You can ask for palliative care whenever you or those close to you feel you need the extra holistic support to help your body, mind, and spirit.
There is no such thing as it being "too early" to meet with a palliative care team. In fact, you can receive the most benefits from palliative care when it is started earlier on in your serious illness care. For example, you can have more relief from unwanted symptoms, and have a better quality of life.
Guides for talking to your doctor or health care team about palliative care
Palliative care: a game changer
Hear a palliative care doctor describe the specialty of palliative care
What really struck me was...they collaborated about me behind the scenes, which I thought was amazing...They worked together to really create a transformative effect on me...That's why it's really fair to call palliative care, at least in my case, a game changer.