Unity Palliative Care FAQ's

Palliative Care is a specialized form of medical care that is designed to focus on improving comfort and quality of life for the patient and family. The goals of palliative care are to address a patient’s current medical condition and assist in developing an effective plan of care in anticipation of future needs.

Palliative Care keeps the patient from being forced to choose between hospice care and continuing to receive curative treatment.

Palliative Care’s main goal is to enhance quality of life for both the patient and the family by providing relief from the symptoms of pain and stress that sometimes cannot be avoided regardless of the unforeseen of both the disease and the medical intervention. It can and should be provided together with curative treatment.

Palliative Care supports the patient and family by helping them to understand treatment options and choices.

• Patient’s home
• Long term facility
• Assisted living facility
• Wherever the patient calls ‘home’

• Palliative Care improves quality of life for the patient and their family.
• Palliative Care patients may continue to receive aggressive treatment that may cure their disease.
• The Palliative Care team works in coordination with the medical providers and medical treatments.
• The Palliative Care team offers support and education to the patients and their family when they have to make important decisions.
• The Palliative Care team, patient and family develops a plan of care to help in the relief of pain and discomfort and to reduce the stress from dealing with their illness.

Any person, child or adult, who has a severe chronic disease that causes a daily discomfort can benefit from Palliative Care. In a Palliative Care program, the patient does not have to be actively dying to benefit from Palliative Care treatment. Palliative Care patients used to be treated in a hospital setting and was only for hospice patients. Now Palliative Care services can be delivered in the home. Patients can receive palliative care at the same they are receiving curative treatment. One focus on patients in Palliative Care is that all individuals have the right to a greater quality of life. 

Patients with the following could benefit from Palliative Care:

• Congestive Heart Failure (CHF)
• Kidney Failure
• Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD)
• Lung Disease
• Liver Failure
• Stroke
• Cancer
• Dementia
• HIV/AIDS

• Medicare
• Private Insurance
• Private Pay

Yes. Unity Palliative Care works with all your doctors to coordinate your care.