Palliative care is specialized healthcare for people living with a serious illness with the goal of improving quality of life for the patient and the family.
At Halifax Health, our Palliative Care Team focuses on improving quality of life for our patients and their families. Living with a health condition that can impact quality of life. Palliative care focuses on providing patients with relief from the symptoms, pain, and stress of a serious illness, whatever the diagnosis. The goal of palliative care is to improve quality of life for both the patient and the family.
Palliative Care is part of a patient’s overall treatment plan. Unlike hospice care, working with a palliative care team does not mean a person has to stop or give up other aspects of their recommended treatment or care, unless they decide they would like to. People receiving palliative care can also receive other types of curative or life lengthening treatments like dialysis, chemotherapy, and radiation. It is appropriate at any age and at any stage of a serious illness
Palliative care is provided by a team of physicians, nurse practitioners, social workers and other specialists who work together with the patient’s physicians to provide an extra layer of support
Symptom Management - expert management of complex physical and emotional symptoms including pain, depression, anxiety, fatigue, dyspnea, nausea and insomnia.
Caregiver Support - emotional and spiritual support to patients and families coping with the stress of serious illness.
Big Picture Questions - skilled communication about what to expect in the future to assist in identifying the goals and priorities of the patient and family.
Continuum of Care - palliative care providers navigate your care plan with you along your healthcare journey and act as an advocate to make sure your goals and wishes are being met.
During your hospital stay, your provider can request a Palliative Care consult from our in-patient palliative care team. Palliative care services are currently provided within Halifax Health hospitals (Daytona Beach, Port Orange and Deltona). Palliative care can be consulted anytime during a hospitalization and the team will remain involved until discharge.
Halifax Health offers outpatient palliative care services available to patients after they are discharged from the hospital. Our nurse practitioners specialize in high quality symptom management, caregiver support, and advance care planning to make sure that patients are comfortable, and goals and wishes are met.
An advance directive lets you indicate who you would want to make decisions for you if you are unable to make them for yourself. It also lets you say exactly how you wish to be treated if you become seriously ill and cannot speak for yourself.
Completing an advance directive helps guide conversations with your family, friends and physicians about how you want to be treated if you become seriously ill. In addition, your family members will not have to guess what you would want, because an advance directive makes your wishes clear when you cannot speak for yourself. Everyone age 18 or older is encouraged to prepare an advance directive. You do not need a lawyer to prepare an advance directive.
Your Advance Directive should be given to your healthcare provider and any specialist that you may be seeing.
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Halifax Health will provide exemplary medical, emotional, and spiritual care for each of our patients and their families.
To be the community healthcare leader through exceptional talent and superior patient-centered service delivered in a financially sustainable manner.
To develop talented teams dedicated to providing competent, accountable patient-centered healthcare in a financially sustainable manner.
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