Palliative care is a kind of care for people who have serious illnesses. The goal of palliative care is to improve quality of life—not just in the body, but also in the mind and spirit.
Many people combine palliative care with other types of treatment.
Palliative care can help manage symptoms, pain, or side effects from treatment. It can help people cope with their feelings about living with a serious illness. It may even help with planning for future health and medical care.
Palliative care can help a person of any age, whether or not his or her illness is terminal. More and more health professionals are using palliative care, and many are specially trained to provide it.
| By | Healthwise Staff |
| Primary Medical Reviewer | Anne C. Poinier, MD - Internal Medicine |
| Specialist Medical Reviewer | Shelly R. Garone, MD - Palliative Medicine |
| Last Revised | July 30, 2010 |
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