By
Haisey Home Care
Updated on: February 6, 2025
•
x min read
Patients with serious, life-threatening, or terminal illnesses have a few treatment options.
Two of them include palliative care and end-of-life care.
These two forms of treatment have many similarities, including improving the patient's quality of life and managing painful symptoms.
But they're not the same.
Palliative care can begin at any stage of a serious illness, even with treatment. End-of-life care is for people in their final months or weeks, focusing only on comfort.
Understanding the difference helps patients and families make informed choices. It ensures the right type of care is provided at the right time.
Understanding Palliative Care
Life with a serious illness comes with more challenges than most people assume. Both physical and emotional struggles make everyday living difficult.
This is where palliative care becomes an option.
Palliative care is a specialised medical approach for people with serious, life-threatening illnesses.
It focuses on providing relief from the symptoms and stress of those illnesses.
It's administered at home, in hospitals, and in nursing facilities.
Palliative care providers work with patients to create a care plan. It's supposed to address the patient's physical, emotional, and practical needs.
Palliative care can include different services to address those needs. These services can include:
- Emotional support
- Pain management
- Symptom management
- Spiritual support and guidance
- Social support
- Support for family members of the patient
Who Is Palliative Care for?
Palliative care is for people of all ages and stages of serious illness. In other words, it doesn't matter if the illness is:
- Life-threatening
- Curable
- Terminal
People with a variety of conditions can receive palliative care, including those with:
- Cancer
- Heart disease
- Alzheimer's disease
- Dementia
- Kidney disease
- Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD)
- Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS)
- Renal failure
- AIDS/HIV
What's important to note is that patients can receive palliative care alongside curative treatments.
As a patient, you can receive palliative care at any point in the illness trajectory.
Palliative care can also be provided to people who are not expected to recover.
But it's also not exclusive to those at the end of life. That's when palliative care usually transitions to end-of-life care.
What Is the Goal of Palliative Care?
The main goal of palliative care is to improve the quality of life. This is achieved by addressing different patient needs.
Think of it as a holistic support system for patients and their families.
It serves as a safety net that alleviates physical pain while supporting emotional and mental well-being.
These are the main goals of palliative care:
- Symptom management
- Holistic support
- Enhancing communication
- Respecting patient preferences
- Care coordination
- Support for caregivers
- Maintaining dignity
Symptom management mainly refers to physical symptoms. These can include nausea, pain, fatigue, and more.
Serious illnesses often come with mental and emotional side effects. These symptoms can also be alleviated through palliative care.
We already mentioned that living with a serious illness hinders daily living. Palliative care can help in this aspect as well.
More importantly, it encourages open and honest communication. Patients and their families may feel more open to talking about the illness.
Palliative care respects the patient's values and preferences. It promotes care that aligns with their goals, even if curative treatments no longer work.
Coordination with Other Treatments
A major asset of palliative care is its compatibility with other treatments.
It doesn't replace curative treatments. Instead, it works alongside them to improve comfort and quality of life.
Whether a patient is undergoing chemotherapy, surgery, or other curative interventions, palliative care can work hand-in-hand.
It aims to sustain the quality of life during treatment. There is no concern that this will conflict with efforts to cure the illness.
For example, cancer patients go through radiation, chemotherapy, and surgeries. But they can also receive palliative care to relieve painful symptoms.
In this example, palliative care can also help with nausea, fatigue, and emotional distress.
Understanding End-of-Life Care
End-of-life care, often synonymous with hospice care, is specifically for patients in the final stages of their illness.
It's considered when a person is expected to live six months or less if the illness runs its usual course.
This type of care is all about making the most of the remaining time.
End-of-life care can be provided at home, in a hospital, or in a hospice facility. It can include various services, such as pain management and symptom relief.
End-of-life care providers, the patient, and their family members all work together. They create a specialised plan that meets the patient's needs.
Who Is End-of-Life Care for?
End-of-life care is for the final stages of terminal illnesses. It's also for those who have a limited life expectancy.
This type of care provides comfort, support, and dignity during the last phase of life.
End-of-life care is appropriate for those who are not pursuing curative treatments. It's also for situations in which such treatments are no longer effective.
End-of-life care is not limited to a specific age group. It can be provided to patients of different ages who are facing conditions. For instance:
- Advanced cancer
- Heart failure
- Organ failure
- Other life-limiting illnesses
Just like palliative care, end-of-life care involves a multidisciplinary team providing care in homes, hospices, or hospitals.
What Is the Goal of End-of-Life Care?
The goals of end-of-life care include:
- Emotional support
- Spiritual guidance
- Enhancing comfort and managing symptoms
- Respecting the patient's wishes
- Improving quality of life
- Support for family members
- Transition from curative to comfort care
As you can see, these goals are similar to what palliative care aims to achieve.
However, with end-of-life care, the aim shifts to managing symptoms and enhancing comfort and dignity in the last period of life.
Finding a cure is no longer the focus. Instead, it's about ensuring the remaining days are filled with peace and as little discomfort as possible.
Measures to reduce pain and other symptoms become the priority. During this phase, the patient should feel as comfortable as possible.
End-of-life care offers emotional and spiritual support.
This type of support isn't only for the patient but for their family members as well.
The patient's wishes need to be respected. This includes decisions about treatment options, location of care, and end-of-life choices.
Palliative Care vs. End-of-Life Care - Timing
The main difference between these two types of care is timing.
End-of-life care is usually provided when the patient only has six months or less to live.
It's the final step of the treatment when other treatments are no longer effective.
Someone with a terminal illness can receive palliative care. It's not only for patients with life-threatening conditions.
Palliative care can be provided alongside other curative treatments. Patients can receive this form of care for a few months to a few years.
When patients enter the final stage of their illness, they usually transition from palliative to end-of-life care.
How to Choose?
The choice between palliative care and end-of-life care depends on many factors.
The specific needs and goals of the patient matter most. However, the decision may evolve as the person's condition changes.
You should choose palliative care if:
- The patient has a serious illness but is still receiving curative treatments. For instance, chemotherapy, dialysis, or heart treatments.
- The focus is on managing symptoms like pain, fatigue, nausea, or shortness of breath.
- The patient wants emotional, psychological, and spiritual support alongside their treatment.
- The illness is not yet terminal, and the goal is to improve comfort and quality of life.
End-of-life care is a better choice if:
- The patient has a terminal illness with a life expectancy of about six months or less (as determined by a doctor).
- Treatments aimed at curing the disease are no longer effective or desired.
- The focus is on comfort, dignity, and symptom management rather than prolonging life.
- The patient prefers hospice care, which is provided at home, in a hospice centre, or a nursing home.
How to Receive Palliative/End-of-Life Care
Both these types of care are included in Home Care Packages.
Home Care Packages are available for older adults and those needing long-term care at home. But those with life-serious illnesses can also apply for Home Care Packages.
Here are the steps to access palliative or end-of-life care via Home Care Packages:
- Assessment
Begin by reaching out to My Aged Care, the Australian Government's aged care portal. You can then discuss your situation and arrange an assessment. An ACAT assessor will evaluate your care needs to determine eligibility and the appropriate level of support.
- Approval and package assignment
If eligible, you'll receive approval for a Home Care Package at one of four levels based on the assessed care needs. There may be a waiting period before a package becomes available.
- Selecting a service provider
Once a package is assigned, select an approved home care provider that offers these services. Work with the provider to develop a care plan tailored to your needs, focusing on palliative or end-of-life care.
- Receiving care
The provider will coordinate and deliver the agreed-upon services, which may include medical and non-medical care.
What Is the Difference Between End-of-Life Care and Palliative Care?
Palliative care and end-of-life care are both essential services for people with serious illnesses.
Palliative care improves the quality of life, while end-of-life care provides comfort and support to people in their final stages of life.
They make sure that those with serious illnesses can live with dignity and comfort.
If you're looking for a home care provider, Haisey Home Care can help. We offer both palliative and end-of-life care for our clients.
Our goal is to make life as easy and comfortable as possible for you and your loved ones through this difficult time.
If you have any questions about our services, feel free to contact us.
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