Palliative Care

Palliative care concentrates on your quality of life and that of your family. It focuses on controlling pain and other symptoms, and meeting a person's social, emotional and spiritual needs. At Brenner Children’s Hospital we take palliative care very seriously and it is an important part of our cancer treatments.

Palliative care, also called comfort care, is primarily directed at providing relief to a terminally-ill person through symptom management and pain management. The goal is not to cure, but to provide comfort and maintain the highest possible quality of life for as long as life remains. Well-rounded palliative care programs also address mental health and spiritual needs. The focus is not on death, but on compassionate specialized care for the living. Palliative care is well-suited to an interdisciplinary team model that provides support for the whole person and those who are sharing the person's journey in love.

Palliative care may be delivered in hospice and home care settings or in hospitals. Because medical needs vary depending on the disease that is leading toward death, specialized palliative care programs exist for common conditions such as cancer and AIDS. Specialized care giving is also needed if organic changes in the brain lead to coma or dementia.

Learn more about the palliative care at the Brenner Children’s Hospital web site.

Palliative Care