Palliative Care
When you or a loved one is seriously ill, you will face many challenges – and we’re here to help.
The palliative care team works in partnership with your own doctor to provide an extra layer of support for you and your family.
Holy Savior Palliative Care is a Medicare certified palliative program with dedicated, full-time providers.
What is Palliative Care?
WHAT: Holy Savior Palliative Care offers coordination of care to late-stage, chronically ill patients struggling with daily living and disease management. We focus on managing the pain, symptoms and stress of a serious illness for patients of any age and at any stage of a disease.
Patients can receive palliative care in coordination with curative treatment from other health care providers. It is also an option for patients who are eligible for hospice, but are not yet ready to stop curative treatments or start of end-of-life care.
WHERE: We come to you! Our palliative care services are provided wherever the patient lives – at home, a group home, an assisted living or skilled nursing facility.
WHO: The Holy Savior team works directly with patients' physicians. Our care team works to educate and support patients and families.
GOAL: The goal of palliative care is to make patients feel better and to provide improved coordination of medical services at reduced cost. With pain and symptom management, patients are less likely to need emergency care and hospitalization and they get to stay where they want to be – at home.
TYPES OF SERVICES:
- Symptom management
- Pain management
- Help navigating treatment options
- Advance care planning
- Comfort measures that support quality of life and referrals to community resources
Source: National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization, 2019: “Palliative Care or Hospice?”
Our Palliative Care Team
The Holy Savior Palliative Care team consists of over 70 professionals. During your care, you’ll get an entire team to help you and your loved ones.
Our medical director and nurse practitioners are hospice and palliative care certified. They are available to make home visits and will work closely with your primary care physician to address your needs. They are responsible for the medical management of the patient’s care.
Our licensed nurses are specially trained in pain and symptom management. They work to identify patient care needs, arrange for services, supplies and medications and are available to make visits 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
Our professional social workers help patients and loved ones by identifying community resources, assist with final arrangements and provide emotional and psychological support.
Our nondenominational chaplains provide support for patients and their loves ones in a manner that respects and honors the patient’s wishes, religious or spiritual traditions and cultural rituals.
Who Should Receive Palliative Care?
According to The American Society of Clinical Oncology the following characteristics help identify a patient who should receive palliative care but not curative treatment; these characteristics are also applicable to patients with other diseases.
- The patient has limited ability to care for himself.
- The patient has received curative treatment and is no longer benefitting from it.
- The patient does not qualify for an appropriate clinical trial.
- There is no evidence that further treatment would be effective.
Paying for Palliative Care
We are one of the only Licensed Palliative Medicare Programs in Texas - meaning there is no out-of-pocket cost to you.
What is Right for You: Palliative or Hospice Care?
The goals, eligibility, and services provided for hospice and palliative care vary. Discover the right treatment option for you or your loved one with our quick ten question evaluation.