Palliative Care: We'll Meet You Where You Are
Palliative care provides an extra layer of support when you are living with serious illness. It helps support you and your family at any stage of serious illness and can be provided alongside curative treatment. Palliative care is not hospice care.
Palliative care adds an additional layer of support to your care. Palliative care clinicians work with other members of the health care team to address physical, psychological, social, spiritual, and emotional needs so you can feel your best.
The goal of palliative care is to help you meet your goals. Whether it is feeling better, choosing a treatment plan that better fits your life, or deciding how to improve the quality of time that you have, palliative care is here to support you.
When you add palliative care to your team, we work with you to reduce physical discomfort, improve quality of life, and make living with a serious illness more manageable.
Palliative care is about helping you live well with serious illness.
Our Promise to You
We’ll meet you where you are.
We'll help you chart your own path.
You are not in this alone, our team is here to help.
We'll join your existing team of healthcare providers.
We'll talk to them and make sure we are all on the same page.
We'll partner with your existing team to support you.
When you’re living with a serious illness, a lot is going on. Our team is here for all your concerns.
From initial diagnosis to when things are complicated, at any stage of a serious illness, we’re here to help.
Your Voice Matters
You can have a say in your care.
Treatments only work if they work for you.
Tell your doctors what matters most to you.
You can get the care and treatment that’s right for you.
Talk to the people who matter most about the care you want.
The more you speak up, the better your healthcare can be.
Helpful Palliative Care Resources:
You might benefit from palliative care if:
- You’re experiencing uncontrolled pain, nausea, fatigue, depression, difficulty sleeping, shortness of breath, or other symptoms related to your illness
- You’re facing difficult or complex treatment decisions and need help deciding next steps
- You or your family need more emotional or spiritual support
- Your treatment team has recommended you complete an advance directive
- You or your family need assistance coordinating transitions of care or figuring out what comes next
- You need more communication about what to expect during serious illness
You can learn more about if palliative and supportive care is right for you by using the resources on the Get Palliative Care website.
Whether or not palliative care is right for you, our team at GW Medicine will be by your side throughout your illness. Our commitment is to you.