What Is Palliative Care?
Palliative care is specialized medical care focused on providing relief from the symptoms, pain, and stress of a serious illness—whatever the diagnosis or stage. The goal is to improve quality of life for both the patient and their family.
Unlike hospice care, palliative care can be provided alongside curative treatments. It’s about helping you live as well as possible, for as long as possible, with the support of a compassionate team that understands the unique challenges of serious illness.
Who Can Benefit From Palliative Care
Palliative care is appropriate for patients facing illnesses such as:
- Heart failure or heart disease
- COPD or chronic lung conditions
- Cancer
- Kidney or liver disease
- Alzheimer’s disease or dementia
- Stroke or neurological disorders
- Any condition causing ongoing symptoms or hospitalizations
Whether you are newly diagnosed, receiving treatment, or managing advanced illness, palliative care helps you find balance, comfort, and control.
How Palliative Care Helps
Palliative care focuses on the whole person, addressing physical, emotional, and spiritual needs.
Your care team will:
- Manage symptoms such as pain, shortness of breath, fatigue, nausea, and anxiety
- Coordinate care among your doctors, specialists, and family
- Provide guidance in making complex medical decisions
- Offer emotional and spiritual support to you and your loved ones
This comprehensive support allows patients to focus on what truly matters—spending meaningful time with family, enjoying daily activities, and maintaining dignity and independence.
How to Access Palliative Care
Palliative care is available in hospitals, clinics, nursing homes, and even in your own home. Services are often covered by Medicare, Medicaid, and most private insurance plans.
Anyone can make a referral—patients, families, or healthcare providers.
If you or someone you love could benefit from palliative care, our team is here to help.
Connect With Us
At Alamo Supportive Care, we believe every person deserves comfort, dignity, and understanding throughout life’s most challenging health journeys.
Let us help you or your loved one live better—today.
Call us at 210-901-6000 or Contact Us Here
Palliative Care vs. Hospice Care
While both focus on comfort and quality of life, there is an important difference:
- Palliative care can begin at any stage of a serious illness and may be provided along with curative treatment.
- Hospice care begins when curative treatment is no longer pursued, and the focus shifts entirely to comfort during the final months of life.
Palliative care can often be the first step in this continuum of support—helping patients transition smoothly if hospice care later becomes appropriate. There is often confusion about the difference between palliative care and hospice care. The chart below will help explain the differences.
To learn more about how Alamo Supportive Care can help you better manage the pain, symptoms and stress of progressive life-limiting illness, call us today! (210) 901-6000