Hospice Care | Palliative Care

Palliative Care


Palliative Care, or comfort care, is an approach to care used to manage your overall symptoms – i.e., pain, physical, psychosocial, and spiritual concerns. It is different than Hospice, as you continue to actively receive treatment for your disease. More specifically, Palliative Care (or comfort care):
  • Provides relief from pain and other distressing symptoms
  • Affirms life and regards dying as a part of the life cycle
  • Neither hastens nor postpones death
  • Offers a support system to help patients live as actively as possible
    until death
  • Offers a support system to help the family cope during the patient's illness and in their own bereavement, including the needs of children
  • Uses a team approach to address the needs of patients and their families, including bereavement counseling, if indicated
  • Will enhance the quality of life, and may positively influence the course of a patient's illness
Palliative Care patients may be receiving potentially curative therapy at the time of their admission. Cancer patients may be receiving active chemotherapy treatments. Patients with CHF or COPD may report limitation of function on most days – for example, being able to walk no more than one block or climb no more than a flight of stairs.

Patient and Family Services for Palliative Care Program


Patient and family services include ongoing care provided by all members of the team, after-hours services, and inpatient care. This includes:

Volunteer Services


Program volunteers, working under the supervision of the Palliative Care staff, provide support and companionship to patients and their families. They also provide respite care, staying with the patient so that caregivers can have time off. Following the patient's death, volunteers offer bereavement support to the surviving family members. All volunteers receive training from Fayette Home Care and Hospice staff prior to providing services.