Living with serious illness
Palliative care
Comfort and clarity, running alongside treatment. Relief from pain, symptoms and stress for anyone living with a serious illness, while they keep the treatment their doctors recommend.
Questions are welcome, with no pressure. A person answers any hour.
Day or night A person answers. (626) 505-1000
For families wondering
Could palliative care help?
It can start at any stage of a serious illness, alongside the treatment they already have. Tap any of these that sound like your loved one.
Nothing tapped yet. If even one sounds familiar, it’s worth asking.
HealthView hospice and palliative care, any hour: (626) 505-1000
Our secure form opens here with what you checked already in it. Add your name and a phone number, and intake gets back to you the same day.
Palliative care is for anyone living with a serious illness, at any age, and it doesn’t mean giving up treatment. It usually starts with a referral from their doctor, and we can help with that. How it differs from hospice: CaringInfo. This list only helps you decide whether to ask. Nothing you tap is saved, and nothing is sent unless you send it to our team or ask the Care Navigator.
Tell me what’s happening, in your own words. No names needed. I’ll help you figure out which kind of care fits, then get you to a person.
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The Care Navigator needs JavaScript turned on. A person answers any hour at (562) 600-1000.
What it adds
One more team watching over them.
Palliative care adds a layer of support on top of the care they already get: symptom relief, honest conversations about goals, and people who answer at any hour.
- Ongoing
Symptom and pain relief
A plan for pain, breathlessness, nausea and fatigue, adjusted as the illness changes.
- At your pace
Conversations about goals
What matters most to them, said out loud and written into the plan, so every decision has something to lean on.
- One record
Care coordination
We work with their doctors and specialists so everyone is reading from the same page.
- Included
Support for the family
Social workers for the worry, the paperwork and the questions nobody else has time for.
Palliative care or hospice?
Two kinds of care families mix up.
Mixing them up keeps families from help they could have today. Here’s the difference, plainly.
| Question | Palliative care | Hospice |
|---|---|---|
| Who it’s for | Anyone living with a serious illness, at any stage of it. | People whose doctors expect the illness to run its course in about six months or less. |
| Treatment | Keep the treatment that’s working. Palliative care adds to it. | Comfort care takes the place of treatment meant to cure the illness. |
| Prognosis needed | No. | Yes. The hospice doctor and their regular doctor certify it, and it’s reviewed over time. |
| How long | As long as it helps. | As long as they still qualify. People can stop hospice at any time and come back later if they’re eligible. |
| Who pays | Medicare covers the medical parts of it. | Medicare pays for hospice care, including drugs for pain and symptoms that are part of the plan of care. Respite stays can carry a small share. Medi-Cal and CalOptima cover it too. |
| Their own doctors | Stay their doctors. | Stay involved, working with the hospice team. |
From CaringInfo, the National Alliance for Care at Home and Medicare.gov.
Symptoms, taken seriously.
Pain
Treated, tracked and respected.
Shortness of breath
Plans that work at home, at 2 AM.
Fatigue and sleep
Energy saved for the things they want to do.
Nausea and appetite
Meals back on the table.
Anxiety and low mood
Named, and cared for like any other symptom.
Alongside treatment
You can receive palliative care while you’re still getting treatment meant to cure, like chemotherapy, dialysis or surgery.
Source: CaringInfo, the National Alliance for Care at Home (opens in a new tab)
Comfort is the work
Palliative care focuses on easing pain and discomfort, and on reducing stress.
Source: CaringInfo, the National Alliance for Care at Home (opens in a new tab)
For anyone seriously ill
Palliative care is for anyone living with a serious illness, and most of it comes from a specially trained team of doctors, nurses and other specialists.
Source: CaringInfo, the National Alliance for Care at Home (opens in a new tab)
If needs change
Nothing gets lost, and nobody starts over.
Palliative care lives inside the same organization as our home health and hospice teams. If needs change, the people, the record and the standard stay the same.
The most common mistake we see is waiting. Nobody has to earn this care by suffering first.
Talk it through ·Call (626) 505-1000Questions
Questions families ask us
Does palliative care mean giving up?
No. Palliative care works alongside the treatment they already get, including treatment meant to cure the illness, and adds relief and support on top of it.
Who is palliative care for?
Anyone living with a serious illness, at any stage. Heart failure, COPD, cancer, kidney disease and dementia are common reasons families call.
How do we start?
Palliative care starts with an order from their doctor. Call us and we’ll work with the doctor’s office to set it up.
Can palliative care turn into hospice later?
If their goals change and they qualify, hospice is the next step on the same continuum. Same organization, same record, no starting over.
Who pays for palliative care?
At HealthView, palliative care is for people with Medicare, which covers its medical parts, like visits from a doctor or nurse practitioner. Intake checks your coverage on the first call.
Where do you provide it?
At home, wherever home is, including assisted living. Call and we’ll confirm we serve your area.