How Does Palliative Care Differ From Hospice Care

1. How Does Palliative Care Differ From Hospice Care? Palliative care is a special type of care for people living with serious illnesses, such as cancer and heart failure. Patients under palliative care receive medical care for their symptoms along with a treatment intended to cure their serious illness. This care is meant to enhance a person’s care by focusing on the quality of their life. Palliative care at home is for patients living with critical illnesses such as heart failure, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, cancer, dementia, and Parkinson’s disease. Patients under palliative care at home can be helped at any stage of illness, and it is best provided soon after diagnosis. Whereas hospice care is for people who are in a critical phase of their health, hospice care mostly focuses on care, comfort, and quality of life. There are situations where it is impossible to cure a serious illness, and at that stage of life, the patients under hospice care understand their situation and their response to medications. When a terminally sick patient's doctor estimates that the patient has six months or less to live because of the illness, hospice care services are provided. Keep reading to learn about palliative care and how it differs from hospice care. ● Treatment: An individual receiving palliative care services at home may continue to receive curative care, such as chemotherapy or cancer surgery. Hospice care is offered to patients who no longer desire to receive treatment and those whose sickness is not progressing. ● Prolonging life: For instance, a person with terminal cancer who contracts an infection can decide not to treat it because they would rather pass away at home rather than in the hospital.While patients in hospices typically want to avoid such efforts, those getting palliative care may continue to explore aggressive methods to protect and lengthen their lives. ● Eligibility period: As long as a person has a serious or terminal illness, they are eligible for palliative care. As long as a medical director can vouch that if a patient's illness progresses as projected, their life expectancy would be no more than six months. Patients under palliative care or hospice care solely depend on their condition. Home care services provide additional monitoring and management capabilities without posing a hindrance. In India, IHHC is one of the most well-known providers of home healthcare services.