When you’re caring for someone with a serious illness, it’s common to reach a point where you wonder, “Is there more support available?”
Palliative care adds a layer of support for people living with a serious illness. It doesn’t replace treatment, and starting it doesn’t mean giving up on getting better. Instead, focuses on managing symptoms, improving quality of life, and helping patients continue receiving care at home.
In This Article
- When is it time to start palliative care at home?
- How to start palliative care?
- Who qualifies for palliative care?
- How does palliative care support patients at home?
- Frequently asked questions about palliative care at home
- Palliative care at home with Residential Healthcare Group
When Is It Time to Start Palliative Care at Home?
Palliative care at home should be considered when the patient’s illness starts affecting daily life. Whether that’s through pain, frequent hospital visits, complicated medications, or the physical or emotional toll of caregiving. Patients don’t need to wait for a crisis, and don’t need a terminal diagnosis to qualify.
It may be time to ask about palliative care at home if:
- Hospital visits or ER trips are becoming more frequent
- Pain or other symptoms are getting in the way of daily life
- Medications are hard to manage
- Fatigue or breathing trouble is limiting independence
- You’re feeling overwhelmed trying to keep up with care
How Does Palliative Care Begin?
Palliative care begins with a conversation between the patient, physician, and healthcare team. If the doctor believes palliative care could provide additional support, they’ll make a referral to a palliative care provider.
Unlike hospice, palliative care is provided alongside treatments intended to manage or treat a serious illness. Patients continue seeing their primary care provider and healthcare specialists while receiving palliative care. The palliative care team works alongside those providers to help manage symptoms, coordinate care, and support both the patient and their caregivers throughout their illness.
Who Qualifies for Palliative Care?
Palliative care at home is available to anyone living with a serious or chronic illness who could benefit from additional symptom management and support.
Some of the most common conditions include:
Heart Failure
Living with heart failure often means managing fatigue, shortness of breath, swelling, and frequent medication adjustments. If symptoms are becoming harder to control or hospital visits are becoming more frequent, palliative care may help improve comfort and day-to-day quality of life.
Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD)
Breathing difficulties can make everyday activities feel exhausting. Palliative care for COPD can help patients manage shortness of breath, conserve energy, and better understand how to respond when symptoms change.
Cancer
Patients receiving cancer treatment may experience pain, nausea, fatigue, appetite changes, or other side effects. Palliative care for cancer focuses on managing those symptoms while patients continue working with their oncology team.
Parkinson’s Disease
As Parkinson’s progresses, symptoms can become more complex for both patients and caregivers. Palliative care can help manage symptoms, coordinate care, and support families as needs change over time.
Dementia and Alzheimer’s Disease
Families caring for someone with dementia often face changes that extend beyond memory loss. As communication, mobility, and daily routines become more challenging, palliative care for dementia or Alzheimer’s can provide symptom management, caregiver education, and additional support.
Kidney Disease
Patients living with kidney disease often experience symptoms that affect daily comfort and independence. Palliative care for kidney disease helps address those symptoms while working alongside the patient’s existing specialists and treatment plan.
How Does Palliative Care Support Patients at Home?
Home-based palliative care is designed to make living with a serious illness more manageable for both patients and caregivers. It adds a team of clinicians to work alongside the patient’s physician to help coordinate care and respond as needs change.
As care continues, medications are reviewed frequently to ensure they continue supporting the patient’s symptoms and overall goals of care. The team monitors changes in pain, breathing, fatigue, appetite, and other symptoms, allowing concerns to be addressed before they become more difficult to manage.
Communication is another important part of palliative care. When multiple physicians and specialists are involved, the palliative team helps keep everyone informed, so treatment decisions remain coordinated and focused on the patient’s goals.
Regular visits also give patients and caregivers an opportunity to ask questions, discuss new concerns, and better understand what to expect as the illness changes. Having a team that knows the patient’s health history and works closely with existing providers helps families feel more supported throughout the course of care.
Frequently Asked Questions About Palliative Care at Home
Does insurance cover palliative care at home?
Coverage depends on the plan and specific services involved. Palliative care isn’t covered under the Medicare Hospice Benefit, since that benefit is specific to hospice, but Medicare, Medicaid, and most private insurance plans cover palliative services in other ways. The patient’s provider or the palliative care team can help you understand what their plan covers.
Can the patient keep getting treatment while receiving palliative care?
Yes, palliative care works alongside a patient’s existing treatment plan; it doesn’t replace it. The patient keeps seeing their specialists and continues their current course of care while the palliative team manages symptoms.
How long can someone receive palliative care?
There’s no time limit for how long someone can receive palliative care. Care can continue for as long as it’s helpful, from the point of diagnosis through any stage of a serious illness, however long that spans.
How do I start palliative care for a loved one?
Talk to the patient’s physician about a referral. You can also ask our team directly whether palliative care is appropriate given the patient’s symptoms and diagnosis.
Palliative Care at Home with Residential
Residential’s palliative care team works alongside the patient’s existing treatment plan from the first referral through ongoing care at home. If you think it’s time for palliative care at home, reach out to our team to talk through what support could look like.
When adults teach children about manners, they might remind them to say ‘please’ by prompting, ‘What’s the magic word?’ This is our introduction to ‘please’ — as the gateway to getting anything we want, whenever we want it. But by the time we reach adulthood and better understand politeness, the word loses a bit of its luster, no longer a mystical source of instant gratification.