Are you or a loved one living with a serious illness? Palliative Care can help. Palliative care is specialized medical care focused on relieving the symptoms and stress of a serious illness. It is appropriate at any age and at any stage, and you can have it along with curative treatment. The goal is to improve your quality of life.
By Allison Applebaum, PhD
Family caregivers are the everyday heroes of health care. They’re the ones—parents, partners, children, siblings, friends—who step up to help loved ones living with serious illness at home, often around the clock. Today, more than 53 million people in the United States are in this role, which keeps growing. As more health care shifts to the home, caregivers’ roles are more important than ever. But caring for someone isn’t always easy, and it can be overwhelming.
Living with liver disease can be difficult, but palliative care can make a big difference. Whether you have hepatitis, liver cancer, or cirrhosis (from any cause), palliative care can help you manage symptoms and improve your quality of life. If you or a loved one has liver disease, it’s important to know how palliative care can support you—from diagnosis through treatment.
Getting a prostate cancer diagnosis can feel overwhelming and scary, but you don’t have to face it alone. Palliative care can help you by managing symptoms, reducing stress, and improving your quality of life every step of the way.
If you or a loved one are living with a serious illness, you may have experienced the financial stress that can come along with medical care. Whether you have insurance, Medicaid, Medicare, or are paying out of pocket, medical bills tend to stack up quickly. Add this to your everyday expenses like food, transportation, childcare, rent, and sometimes medical aides and home modifications, and paying bills seems insurmountable.
Did you know that there are nonprofit organizations that help offset costs for people living with serious illness? Every organization is different, but they all understand the stress and day-to-day needs of people living with a serious illness, and their loved ones. And they all have the goal of improving quality of life by reducing financial strain.
Are you or a loved one living with a serious illness like cancer, kidney disease, or heart failure? If so, it’s important to know of a common symptom that isn’t always top of mind or discussed—constipation, which affects around 70% of people living with serious illness. Addressing constipation can improve quality of life and help with discomfort or pain.
Taking five or more prescription medications (called polypharmacy) is more common than most people realize. Research shows that it is very common among older adults. Usually, this is because the person has several chronic conditions. That’s why health care providers tend to add medicine. The problem? The chances of having poor outcomes go up the more medication you take. Your palliative care team can make a difference. … Read More
Are you or a loved one living with a serious illness like cancer, COPD, or heart failure? While you may be focused on managing the main symptoms of your illness, there’s another common one that is not often recognized or treated: fatigue.
You’ve probably heard a lot about telehealth, or the ability to have doctor appointments via phone and video chat. Now, more than ever, doctors have been making it available to their patients.
If you or a loved one are living with a serious illness, telehealth is a great way to have regular appointments with your palliative care team and keep in touch regularly. You may first need to visit the doctor in person, but after that, you may be able to do most of your visits from where you’re most comfortable—at home. … Read More
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