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What Is Palliative Care? Key Facts to Know
In this video, Nathan E. Goldstein, MD, explains what palliative care is and how patients with serious illnesses can utilize it to improve their quality of life.
Written by Brittany Doohan | Reviewed by Karen Hovav, MD, FAAP
Updated on April 30, 2023Getting diagnosed with a serious illness affects more than a person’s physical health. It can touch multiple areas of their life, including their emotional well-being, finances, and social and spiritual life.
A patient’s diagnosis can also significantly impact their family’s lives as well. Receiving an unexpected diagnosis is hard enough — without having to worry about all the other ways it can impact your life. That’s why, as part of a normal treatment regimen, patients have access to palliative care, and are encouraged to utilize it. Learn more about the difference between hospice and palliative care here.
Additional Medical Contributors
- Nathan E. Goldstein, MDNathan E. Goldstein, MD, is a professor of geriatrics and palliative medicine at the Mount Sinai Hospital in New York City.
References
National Institute on Aging. (n.d.). What are palliative care and hospice care?
UpToDate. (2022). Primary palliative care.
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