Palliative Care
Beneficial at any stage of a serious illness, palliative care is an interdisciplinary care delivery system designed to anticipate, prevent and manage physical, psychological, social and spiritual suffering to optimize quality of life for patient, their families and caregivers. Palliative Care can be delivered in any care setting through the collaboration of many types of care providers.
Through early integration into the care plan of seriously ill people, palliative care improves quality of life for both the patient and family.
National Consensus Project for Quality Palliative Care
Palliative care helps you control your symptoms and manage your care during a serious illness. We give emotional support to you and your family and can help you make complex medical decisions. At Queen of the Valley Medical Center, we provide this service any time you might need it.
You may first meet your palliative team while in the hospital, but we provide care and support wherever you are — at home, in the hospital or in a specialized facility such as a nursing home.
A serious illness can impact every part of your life. You can receive palliative care at any time, including when you are receiving active treatments such as chemotherapy, dialysis or radiation. We work with people with advanced, chronic, critical, serious and life-limiting illness such as:
- Advanced dementia
- Advanced renal disease
- Anoxic brain injury
- Cancer
- Congestive heart failure
- Late-stage HIV
- Metastatic cancer
- Severe chronic obstructive pulmonary disease
- Stroke
- Uncontrolled anxiety, depression, fatigue, nausea, pain or shortness of breath
At Queen of the Valley Medical Center, we work with you and your family to create a plan of care. Your palliative care team talks with you and your family to hear your concerns and goals. We assist you with advance care planning and decision-making. We guide you through discussions about your treatment choices and how best to manage your health and care.
Our services include:
- Assistance with decision-making in all aspects of your care
- Care that addresses your emotional, physical, social and spiritual needs
- Help transitioning between health care settings
- Providing a compassionate presence to strengthen your sense of hope
- Sharing practical guidelines for your next steps in care
- Support of your family and loved ones
- Transition to a new care setting
- Treatments for your pain and other physical symptoms
The Queen of the Valley palliative care team includes specialists in palliative medicine, such as:
- Advance directive specialists
- Behavioral health providers
- Chaplain
- Doctors
- Nurse practitioners
- Nurses
- Social workers
You, your family or your doctor can ask for a palliative care consultation. Call 707-257-4042 to make an appointment.
Reasons to request palliative care include:
- Assistance with complex symptom management
- Care of complex, severely ill patients over time; these include patients with a new serious diagnosis, or frequent readmissions for same diagnosis
- Assistance with medical decision making and determining goals of care
- Questions regarding Advanced Care Planning, POLST forms and other future planning needs
Your consultation will include:
- An assessment of your care goals
- Symptom management for concerns such as anxiety, constipation, fatigue, insomnia, pain, nausea and trouble breathing
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