What Is Palliative Care? Definition, Types, and More

Palliative consists of specialised medical care for people diagnosed with a severe illness such as cancer or heart disease, and it can be integral to a patient’s healing process. Alongside curative treatment, palliative care can enhance the patient’s quality of life. Every year, around 56.8 million people need palliative care [1]. Globally, only 14 percent of those who need palliative care currently receive it [1].

The Latin root word is palliat, which means “cloaked.” In a sense, palliative care offers a healing cloak for a patient’s pain.

Learn all about palliative care, including types, benefits, and why it’s needed.

What is palliative care?

Palliative care refers to the specialised medical care given to patients diagnosed with serious illnesses, such as cancer, dementia, heart disease, and more. Professionals administer palliative care alongside treatments intended to cure the illness, with the goal of enhancing the person’s quality of life. It is best provided soon after diagnosis.

A palliative care team comprises several health care professionals who provide medical, social, emotional, and financial support to the patient and their family. Professionals offer this care in hospitals, nursing homes, outpatient clinics, and sometimes at home.

Palliative care can include administering medication, advising changes to nutrition or diet, techniques for relaxing and relieving pain, emotional support, and more. Each patient case requires a tailored care plan for their unique needs.

Palliative care vs hospice care

Palliative care focuses on patients seeking treatment for an illness, which professionals deliver from when the patient is diagnosed until doctors determine they can no longer receive treatment for a cure.

If a patient is suffering from a terminal illness with no available treatment and has six months or less to live, they can enter hospice care to ensure that they are comfortable and relaxed for their final days. 

Who needs palliative care?

People who need palliative care are patients suffering from symptoms of life-threatening illnesses. They could be living with the following:

• Cancer

• Heart disease

• Blood and bone marrow disorders

• Alzheimer’s

• Kidney failure

• Parkinson’s

• Cystic fibrosis

• Dementia

• Stroke

However, those who receive palliative care do not only fall into the categories above. Many illnesses can benefit from palliative care.

Symptoms that palliative care can help heal

Although pain management is among the benefits of receiving palliative care, it’s one of many symptoms that palliative caregivers can help improve. Palliative care can provide relief for symptoms such as:

• Pain

• Nausea or vomiting

• Depression or sadness

• Anxiety

• Constipation

• Fatigue

• Loss of appetite

• Trouble sleeping

• Shortness of breath

Types of palliative care

Palliative care comes in many forms, depending on the patient’s needs. Below, you can take a closer look at the types of palliative care and what each looks like in practice.

Physical

The physical pain and side effects that accompany serious illnesses can feel overwhelming. When a patient experiences physical side effects from the illness or treatment, such as pain, fatigue, nausea, shortness of breath, and trouble sleeping, it can affect their overall well-being. Palliative care specialists, pain specialists, or sleep therapists might help manage these symptoms and side effects.

Social

Whilst experiencing pain, discomfort, or sadness during an illness, patients may find it challenging to connect with caregivers or family members about their feelings. Patients may not want to burden their loved ones and sometimes need an objective point of view or even just transportation to and from the hospital.

Social workers offer support by helping families manage in times of crisis. For example, a social worker might connect individuals or families with resources to help those facing hardships like poverty, addiction, abuse, or discrimination. They can even provide palliative care for caregivers when they’re feeling overwhelmed.

Emotional

During an illness, patients may feel physically in pain, but they can also experience a wide range of emotions. Patients might feel sad, angry, anxious, and grateful. Emotional palliative care can look like gaining access to a support group or a mental health professional to help them cope with their emotions.

Mental

Alongside emotional care, illness symptoms, treatments, and medications can affect the mind. If patients can't sleep, they might feel stressed and have difficulty thinking clearly. They might worry about children or parents if they cannot care for them. Mental health counsellors and support groups can suggest yoga, art, walking, and other relaxing activities.

Spiritual

Whilst suffering from a serious illness such as cancer or dementia, patients may encounter thoughts about nearing death or seeking a greater purpose upon surviving an illness. One aspect of palliative care can be spiritual, so if a patient belongs to a mosque, temple, or church, leaders or community members of their chosen faith can help them deal with the situation positively.

Benefits of palliative care

Giving patients a better quality of life is one of many advantages of palliative care. Additional benefits include: 

• Support the patient and their family with holistic support of the body, mind, and spirit.

• Help patients understand treatment plans (translators or interpreters can be critical to a palliative care team) and pay for them.

• Improve their quality of life by relieving pain and symptoms.

• Provide referrals to community resources or other types of support.

• Extend the life of the patient. 

The need for access to palliative care

As stated above, only around 14 percent of those who need palliative care receive it, according to the World Health Organization [1]. That number increases when applied to India, where up to two-thirds of people who die could benefit from palliative care. Still, access is restricted primarily to major cities in the southern regions and regional cancer centres [2, 3]. India faces challenges in implementing widespread palliative care, including population density and poverty in many areas. Other challenges include a lack of equipment, services, and interest in offering services, as well as restricted and limited national policies regarding palliative care and opioid use. These complex challenges underscore the need for access to these vital services. 

Careers in palliative care

Palliative care requires a team of doctors, nurses, assistants, and specialists. Explore some careers in palliative care to see if any align with your interests:

Palliative medicine physician 

Average annual salary in India (Salary Expert): ₹22,66,096 [4] 

A palliative care physician is a doctor with qualifications to consider palliative care in their practice. In this position, you might focus on terminal illnesses such as cancer or heart failure.

Palliative nurse

Average annual salary in India (Salary Expert): ₹9,94,022 [5]

Palliative nurses provide primary medical care and sometimes offer counselling to patients. In this role, you will assess patient needs, administer medication to manage pain, advocate for patients' rights, and support patients’ families. 

Social service worker: 

Average annual salary in India (Salary Expert): ₹8,81,958 [6]

A social service worker works on a palliative care team to provide patient resources, such as access to community-based support, transportation, or therapy. As a social service worker, you will help guide individuals in crisis, including connecting them with resources and services, such as government funds, education, or healthcare treatments.

Hospice nurse

Average annual salary in India (Salary Expert): ₹10,06,009 [7]

If and when patients switch from palliative to hospice care, a hospice nurse specifically focuses on quality of life, comfort, and happiness in one’s final days. In this role, you will care for patients in their homes and arrange further treatment. 

Continue learning about palliative care on Coursera

People who are gravely ill also need social, psychological, and spiritual care. In a palliative care position, you will work with a care team to provide services and pain management for individuals with serious, life-threatening conditions. With the Palliative Care: It’s Not Just Hospice Specialisation from the University of Colorado, you’ll gain a comprehensive introduction to the core concepts of palliative care.