Palliative Care: Relief and Comfort

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Palliative (pronounced pal-lee-uh-tiv) care is provided to people living with serious illnesses, to relieve pain and other symptoms to improve comfort and quality of life. Palliative care consists of symptom treatment, emotional support and spiritual support, which help ease the physical and emotional pain and suffering caused by a serious illness.

Our palliative care staff works in collaboration with a patient’s physician and other care staff to provide palliative care services for the patient at a hospital or place of residence, be it a home, nursing home or assisted living facility.

Who Can Benefit From Palliative Care?

Palliative care benefits people of all ages who are living with a serious illness. Patients typically have a life expectancy of two years or less, depending on the progression of their illness. Patients may choose to continue curative and life-prolonging treatment while receiving palliative care.

Palliative care benefits those with cancers, heart diseases, lung diseases, neurological diseases and many others. Treatment helps relieve painful and irritable symptoms such as shortness of breath, fatigue, constipation, nausea, loss of appetite and difficulty sleeping. Treatment encompasses medical care as well as complementary therapies, known as palliative arts, including music, art, humor, massage and more. The goal is to help patients find the relief, comfort and strength needed to carry on with daily life.

Families also benefit from palliative care. They are offered counseling and support to help cope with the impact of the patients’ illnesses and assist with decision-making.

Our Palliative Care Services

• Visits from registered nurses, nurse practitioners, home health aides and trained volunteers
• Counseling with social workers and chaplains for patients and family members
• Palliative arts such as massage, therapeutic touch, aromatherapy, expressive arts, Reiki, pet therapy, humor therapy
• Advance care planning assistance
• Help with accessing community resources and financial assistance resources
• Caregiver Education

How Do You Access Our Services?

Palliative care services are available anytime whether you are in a hospital or at home.

Hospital-based palliative care

If you are in a hospital, your physician can request a palliative care consult from one of Suncoast Hospice’s hospice and palliative medicine board-certified physicians or other team members. You also may ask your doctor to request this consult. Upon discharge from the hospital, you may be referred to Suncoast Supportive Care, our community-based palliative care program.

Suncoast Hospice has special partnerships with Morton Plant, Mease-Dunedin and Mease-Countryside hospitals that include expert palliative care teams. A palliative care team is comprised of a social worker, chaplain and one of our palliative care physicians. The teams work together to assist the patient and family with decision-making and to ensure that the patient’s care wishes are followed. Suncoast Hospice also has worked with staff at St. Anthony’s Hospital and other hospitals in the Pinellas County area.

Home-based palliative care

Suncoast Hospice’s Suncoast Supportive Care is a unique, home-based program that offers palliative care even while the patient is seeking curative or life-prolonging treatment for a serious illness. Suncoast Supportive Care offers these services in patients’ homes or wherever they reside. Patients and families can request services for short-term counseling to help address the emotional impact of the illnesses and grief and loss issues as well as ongoing community resource guidance.

How Is Palliative Care Paid For?

Palliative care is a fee for service program, billed to Medicare Part B or private insurance and the patient. Other fee arrangements are available as well.

For information about our programs or to request services, please contact Suncoast Hospice at 727-467-7423.