Palliative Care Program Services

Palliative care can begin whenever a patient and clinician feel it can help. For many, this happens shortly after the diagnosis of a serious condition. Patients and their families may choose to receive these and other palliative care services:

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• Expert management of pain and physical symptoms that can make living hard
• Care coordination between primary and specialty care physicians, care teams, therapists and others
• 24/7 phone availability for patients and their clinicians, in case of questions or urgent after-hours needs
• Social work and advocacy services, including practical help completing insurance forms, choosing between options for care or places to live, and creating advance directive documents and care plans to which your family and physicians may refer if a time comes when you cannot speak for yourself
• Crisis prevention and management plans
• Support for families and friends who are grieving a person's death
• Spiritual care and support for people of all faiths and beliefs
• Support and guidance around personal issues of meaning and purpose during times of change
• Companionship during sometimes long and lonely hospital days
• Massage, reiki and other soothing therapies proven to improve emotional and physical symptoms
• Expressing yourself, your emotions, and your personality through the arts including creative writing, visual arts, and harp instrumentals

Support where and when it's needed

Our goal is to provide comprehensive supportive care across all health care settings.

Bereavement support

We help those who have experienced the death of someone they love cope with the grief that naturally follows.

Inpatient consultation service

We see patients and families who have emerging needs as new consults in the hospital, but we also proactively try to support patients and families we have an established relationship with when they unexpectedly require admissions to the hospital. We help connect you to other resources that may support you while you are in the hospital such as care coordination, chaplaincy, healing arts, creative arts, or psychosocial support.

Outpatient clinic

We provide initial evaluations, follow-up visits and interim care provided through regular check-ups by the Palliative Care team. Whenever possible we coordinate with other specialists to improve health care team communication and minimize the burden of travel for clinical appointments.

Patient and family education

We help patients and families to understand their health conditions and treatment options. We also assist patients and families in adjusting to the practical challenges and emotional stress of caring for someone they love who is seriously ill.

Telephone support

We provide immediate assistance to patients, their families, and their providers regarding symptom control or other time sensitive decisions 24 hours a day and 7 days a week by telephone support. We know living with serious medical illness can feel isolating and we want to help you feel more connected and secure.