Palliative care is a medical specialty that focuses on relieving pain and improving quality of life for patients and families who are coping with serious illness.

Palliative care offers patients the best possible quality of life during their illness and works to help them gain the strength they need to carry on with daily life. It relieves symptoms such as pain, shortness of breath, fatigue, constipation, nausea, loss of appetite and difficulty sleeping that often accompany serious illness and its treatment, and helps patients and their families better understand their choices for medical care.

• Relief from distressing symptoms such as pain, shortness of breath, constipation, nausea, difficulty sleeping, loss of appetite
• The ability to carry on with daily life to the fullest extent possible
• Better understanding of his or her condition and treatment options
• The support of a team that follows the patient throughout a hospital stay