Palliative Medicine

Answers, Relief and Support For Patients With Advanced Illness

If you or your loved one is hospitalized with an advanced illness or complex medical issues, the Palliative Medicine team may be consulted to help support the care process.

What is Palliative Medicine?
The Carle Foundation Hospital Palliative Medicine Team is a team of health care specialists working together to coordinate the care, relieve the suffering and promote the quality of life of hospital patients with advanced illness or complex medical issues, regardless of age or diagnosis.  The team includes a physician, nurse practitioner, social worker and chaplain.

By communicating with your primary care and all other necessary specialists, the Palliative Medicine team is able to support and coordinate your needs.  In fact, palliative medicine services can often reduce your length of stay in the hospital and prepare you and your family for a faster discharge.

Palliative Medicine is available to all patients of any age and at any stage of an advanced illness.

Satisfied Patients
Patients who receive palliative care often have a higher level of satisfaction with their physicians, health care team, and hospital because Palliative Medicine:

• Lessens the emotional, social and spiritual suffering patients may experience.
• Helps determine the eligibility of patients for supportive care services such as home health, extended care or hospice.
• Facilitates patient and family communications to define goals of care, discharge options and advanced directives.
• Helps reduce length of stay and improve quality of care.

Typical patients who benefit from palliative medicine include those with:

• Advanced illnesses, multiple or complex illnesses, or recurrent admissions
• Changing treatment goals
• A need for coordination of care; often when there is conflict among patient and family regarding illness management or treatment course
• Advanced heart and lung disease
• Metastatic or inoperable cancer
• Degenerative neurological disorders
• Renal failure
• Alzheimer’s disease or other dementias

How Palliative Medicine Helps:
The Palliative Medicine Team works with your primary care physician and all other medical specialties to:

• Complement your existing treatments.

• Coordinate an array of medical and social services.

• Treat all parts of your care – physical, emotional and spiritual to help deliver comprehensive care focused on your needs.

• Help reduce length of hospital stay and improve quality of care.

Who can refer patients to Palliative Medicine?
Physicians can refer patients to the service. Mid-level providers, nurses, staff, patients and family members can request the service but a physician referral is necessary to activate the service.

To find out more about palliative medicine, ask your doctor or call the Carle Foundation Hospital Palliative Medicine Team at (217) 326-4445.