{"id":2967,"date":"2023-11-15T07:00:00","date_gmt":"2023-11-15T07:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/prd-www.mccdn.io\/vitals\/?p=2967"},"modified":"2025-08-20T16:30:12","modified_gmt":"2025-08-20T16:30:12","slug":"hospice-palliative-care-differences","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/updates-www.mccdn.io\/vitals\/hospice-palliative-care-differences\/","title":{"rendered":"The difference between palliative care and hospice","gt_translate_keys":[{"key":"rendered","format":"text"}]},"content":{"rendered":"

Palliative care and hospice have similar goals, including maintaining quality of life and providing comfort for those facing a serious or life-threatening illness.<\/p>\n

But \u2014 like many people \u2014 you may be wondering what the differences are between\u00a0these types of care.<\/em><\/p>\n

What is palliative care?<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Palliative care<\/strong>\u00a0is aimed at enhancing quality of life when someone is experiencing a serious illness. Doctors and other health care providers who specialize in palliative care address a person\u2019s physical symptoms in the context of social, emotional and spiritual challenges.<\/p>\n

A major goal of palliative care is to guide a person through the process of figuring out what is most important to them. This ensures the medical care they receive is consistent with their values.<\/p>\n

Palliative care is appropriate at any stage of a life-limiting illness. Palliative care providers at MultiCare can be helpful at the time of initial diagnosis as patients and their families gather complex medical information, weigh the treatment options, and begin to cope with the emotional shock and spiritual crises that typically arise.<\/p>\n

During the course of a patient\u2019s illness, palliative care providers help with pain and symptom management.<\/p>\n

At MultiCare, adult palliative care consultation is available in inpatient and outpatient settings. Providers work as a team to help ensure a patient\u2019s care is well-coordinated and that they understand all the information necessary to make informed, tailored medical decisions.<\/p>\n

Is palliative care available to children with serious illnesses?<\/strong><\/h2>\n

MultiCare Mary Bridge Children\u2019s Hospital offers pediatric palliative care for children with complex, life-limiting or life-threatening illnesses. Palliative care provides an extra layer of support for a child and their family. Its goals are to relieve the symptoms and stress of a serious illness and make sure quality of life is the best it can be.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe see patients with a wide variety of conditions, including cancer, genetic conditions, brain injury, prematurity, medical complexity and many others,\u201d says Stephanie Raghubeer, MD, director of Mary Bridge Children\u2019s Palliative Care<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The team \u2014 a doctor, nurse and social worker \u2014 works closely with families and their child\u2019s medical providers to help talk through medical decisions, explore goals and values, offer advice about a child\u2019s physical symptoms, make plans for the future and connect to community resources.<\/p>\n

\u201cMany families worry that palliative care is the same as end-of-life care, but this is not the case. Palliative care is appropriate at every stage of illness and can be provided alongside current medical care,\u201d says Dr. Raghubeer. \u201cWe provide support throughout a family\u2019s journey with serious illness, whatever that may look like.\u201d<\/p>\n

Patients can be seen in the Mary Bridge Children\u2019s Palliative Care clinic, via telehealth or while in inpatient care at Mary Bridge Children\u2019s Hospital.<\/p>\n

What is hospice care?<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Hospice care<\/strong>\u00a0<\/strong>is a specialized form of palliative care for adults who are in the terminal stage of illness or approaching the end of life. It typically focuses on caring for patients whose primary goal is comfort rather than a cure.<\/p>\n

Hospice care providers focus on a person\u2019s quality of life as well as their comfort and dignity throughout the dying process. Providers ensure a patient\u2019s pain and symptoms are managed, and their emotional and spiritual concerns are addressed.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur clinical staff work with the patient\u2019s family and caregivers, providing education and resources that they may need while they care for their loved one,\u201d explains Abby Cole, RN, clinical manager of hospice with MultiCare Home Health & Hospice<\/a>.\u00a0\u201cThe interdisciplinary team of doctors, ARNPs, pharmacists, nurses, social workers, comfort therapists, CNAs and spiritual counselors walk with the patient and family during their end-of-life journey.\u00a0This partnership and teamwork are vital in supporting the patient\u2019s wishes and end-of-life goals.\u201d<\/p>\n

MultiCare offers hospice care to all ages, including infants and children.<\/p>\n

Similar to adult care, pediatric hospice focuses on comfort and dignity for the child, while supporting the entire family spiritually and emotionally. However, for some pediatric patients, hospice can be accessed without any changes to their typical disease-directed care. The pediatric palliative care team can help families understand their options.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn general, someone on hospice care is stopping chemotherapy because the treatment makes them feel worse, or they are declining surgery for advanced heart failure,\u201d says Melissa Chubbuck, MD, medical director of MultiCare Home Health & Hospice. \u201cBut if continuing to take heart failure medication helps with symptom management like shortness of breath, we can certainly do both.\u201d<\/p>\n

In addition to medications for pain and symptom management, MultiCare also offers massage, music and aromatherapy.<\/p>\n

Hospice care can often be provided in a patient\u2019s home, nursing home, assisted living facility or hospital. MultiCare\u2019s field team includes nurses, a chaplain, social worker, comfort therapy and volunteer staff who make home visits according to a patient\u2019s need.<\/p>\n

Palliative and hospice care are generally covered by Medicare, Medicaid and most private insurance companies.<\/p>\n

Find out more about hospice and palliative care at MultiCare by talking to your doctor or other health care provider.<\/p>\n

For pediatric palliative care at Mary Bridge Children\u2019s, please call 253-403-3807.<\/p>\n

Editor\u2019s note: This article was originally published in November 2016 and updated in November 2023.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false,"gt_translate_keys":[{"key":"rendered","format":"html"}]},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

November is National Hospice and Palliative Care Month. Learn more about these philosophies of medical care.<\/p>\n","protected":false,"gt_translate_keys":[{"key":"rendered","format":"html"}]},"author":451,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[127,99],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2967","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-healthy-living","category-primary-care"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nWhat\u2019s the difference between hospice and palliative care? - MultiCare Vitals<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Palliative care and hospice have similar goals: maintaining quality of life and providing comfort for those with a serious or life-threatening illness.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/updates-www.mccdn.io\/vitals\/hospice-palliative-care-differences\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"What\u2019s the difference between hospice and palliative care? 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