What Is Palliative Care?

Palliative care (pronounced pal-ee-uh-tiv) is a specialized medical care for people with a serious illness. It focuses on providing patients with relief from symptoms and the stress of a serious illness. The goal is to improve the quality of life for both the patient and family.

Lakewood Health System’s palliative care services address the physical, emotional, social, and spiritual needs that face both our patients and their families when they have a serious, chronic, or life-limiting illness.

Our Level of Care

Our priority is to facilitate relief of pain symptoms and provide information to help patients make their own healthcare choices, which allows them to be in control of their decisions. Our team also assists in continuity of care between multiple providers and departments. This level of care and support is what makes palliative care services essential.

Palliative Care at Lakewood

Lakewood offers two different types of palliative care: home-based, which is where our team comes to your home to provide hands-on care, and community-based, where care is offered through our hospital, clinic, or long-term care via phone or through on-site hospital or clinic visits.

This extra layer of care and support is provided by a specially-trained team of doctors, nurses, and other specialists who work together with the patient’s provider. These services are appropriate for persons of any age, and at any stage during their illness. It can be provided alongside curative treatments.