Home-based Palliative Care
Living Well New York
A program of United Hospice
Innovative Care at Home
Developed by United Hospice—Living Well New York Home-based Palliative Care allows seriously ill individuals to remain at home.
This advanced care model utilizes an interdisciplinary team to deliver high quality care focused on alleviating pain and other symptoms associated with serious illness.
What is Palliative Care?
Palliative care is the comprehensive treatment of the discomfort, symptoms, and stress of serious illness. The goal of palliative care is to prevent and ease suffering—and improve quality of life.
It does not replace primary care treatment; palliative care works in congruence with the primary care treatment a patient is receiving.
Quality of Life
- Reduce the burden of the patient’s symptoms
- Improve the patient’s engagement with advance care planning
- Provide caregiver support and education
- Decrease potentially unnecessary health care service utilization
- Decrease hospital readmission rates
- Improve the patient’s overall quality of life
Proven to Help
- Pain, nausea, and shortness of breath
- Communicating with family members and health care providers
- Accessing care that is more in line with their wishes
- Decreasing stress while increasing confidence in making care decisions
- Emotional support and reduction in anxiety
Team-based, Patient-centered
The Living Well New York program offers a team-based approach to patient-centered care. The palliative care team includes:
- Doctors
- Nurses
- Social Workers
- Spiritual Care Counselors/Chaplains
Working in collaboration with the patient’s primary or attending physicians, the Living Well New York team provides recommendations for the patient’s care at home.
Most importantly, patients do not give up their own health care provider to participate in the Living Well New York program.
When to Consider Palliative Care
You may want to consider palliative care if you or your loved one:
Suffers from pain or other symptoms due to a serious illness
Needs help understanding their serious illness and discussing care plan options
Palliative Care vs. Hospice Care
While both are designed to provide comfort—palliative care and hospice care are significantly different.
Palliative Care
Palliative care can begin at diagnosis, and at the same time as treatment. It is available to patients any time during illness and does not depend on whether a condition can be cured. Patients do not have to be on hospice or at the end of life to receive palliative care.
The primary goal of palliative care is to provide as much comfort as possible and improve quality of life for both the patient and their family.
Hospice Care
Hospice care begins after treatment of the disease is stopped—when it is clear that the patient is not going to survive the illness.
Hospice care focuses on a person’s final months of life with a best guess life expectancy of six months or less. Patients in hospice always receive palliative care, in addition to more types of services.
Our staff is here to help you as you begin to walk through this challenging time. Please call us at 845-634-4974 to discuss your situation. Lean on our experience and compassion. We are here for you.