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When facing a serious, life-altering illness, additional support and symptom relief are often needed

A serious illness can make us feel as if our life is on hold. The Supportive Palliative Care teams at Baylor Scott and White Health work with your primary team to provide additional medical emotional, and spiritual support for patient and family alike, helping improve quality of life throughout the serious-illness journey

Supportive Palliative Care is a team based medical specialty focusing on comfort, care, and planning for patients and families facing serious illness. Supportive Palliative Care team members help develop a care plan that meets the patient's wants and needs, including management of pain and other symptoms, counseling, spiritual support and other therapies

You can continue to be treated for your illness while working with the supportive palliative care team. If hospice is needed later, your team can help with the transition.

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Learn more about supportive palliative care

What is supportive palliative care?

Palliative care is a new relatively new medical specialty -- and no, it's not the same as hospice. It focuses more broadly on improving life and providing comfort to people of all ages with serious, chronic, and life-threatening illnesses. Palliative care has even been associated with improved survival in some metastatic cancers, perhaps because when patients feel better, they function better, then leading to better outcomes.


When is supportive palliative care appropriate?

Knowing when to talk with your doctor about receiving supportive palliative care can help ease the physical and emotional symptoms of a serious illness.


Facts about supportive palliative care

This fact sheet from Texas Department of Health and Human Services provides a basic overview of supportive palliative care, including financial and insurance information and caregiver resources.

Benefits of supportive palliative care

When you or a loved one is dealing with a serious medical condition, it can be difficult to deal with the stress caused by pain, anxiety and other factors. Supportive palliative care can improve the lives of patients and their families by helping them deal with the physical and emotional stress of a serious medical condition.

In fact, an ever-increasing number of studies have demonstrated multiple benefits to patients and families receiving supportive palliative care services, including:

  • Improved control of pain and other symptoms
  • Better quality of life
  • Less depression and anxiety for patient and family
  • Improved survival for metastatic cancer patients who receive early supportive palliative services
  • Less non-beneficial treatment near the end of life
  • Fewer hospital readmissions and lower costs of care

 

 

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Programs and services

Our supportive palliative care teams help you manage your illness and your life through a variety of specialized programs and services.

Please note: Not all services are available at all locations.

  • Physicians and APPs
  • Servicios de trabajo social
  • Cuidado espiritual
  • Programa de Vida Infantil
  • Asesoramiento individual y familiar
  • Terapia musical
  • Nutrición y logopedia
  • Terapia ocupacional
  • El manejo del dolor

Physicians and APPs

Our award winning supportive palliative care teams are under the leadership physicians who are board certified in both palliative medicine and a primary board such as internal medicine, family practice, emergency medicine or one of 14 other primary boards.

Servicios de trabajo social

Los trabajadores sociales del equipo de cuidados paliativos ayudan a los pacientes ya sus familiares a acceder a los recursos durante la estancia hospitalaria y después del alta. También ofrecen asesoramiento individual, apoyo de grupo, ayuda con la transición en los lugares de atención, ayuda a adaptarse a la enfermedad y la defensa del paciente.

Cuidado espiritual

Supportive palliative care chaplains offer support for patients facing serious illness.

Programa de Vida Infantil

Los especialistas en vida infantil brindan apoyo a los niños de adultos gravemente enfermos o heridos. Nuestros especialistas en vida infantil trabajan con adultos para ayudarles a comprender las preguntas y preocupaciones que tienen los niños cuando una persona importante en su vida está gravemente enferma. También ayudan a los adultos a entender los cambios de comportamiento y los signos de estrés en sus hijos.

Asesoramiento individual y familiar

Nuestro equipo puede ayudarlo a usted y a los miembros de su familia en su lucha por encontrarle sentido a su experiencia al lidiar con la enfermedad. Los miembros de nuestro equipo tienen habilidades de escucha y asesoramiento básico y, si es necesario, pueden derivarlo a recursos internos o externos con habilidades de asesoramiento avanzadas.

Terapia musical

La música a menudo puede ofrecer un consuelo relajante para los pacientes que se acercan al final de la vida. Los estudios han demostrado que la música puede afectar favorablemente el sistema inmunológico, reducir la tensión muscular y ayudar a aliviar el dolor.

Nutrición y logopedia

Los dietistas y los patólogos especializados en el habla pueden trabajar con pacientes de cuidados paliativos para aliviar las dificultades de deglución, proporcionar evaluaciones nutricionales e información sobre nutrición artificial (tubos de alimentación) e hidratación, según sea necesario.

Terapia ocupacional

Occupational therapy can benefit patients facing serious illnesses by helping them live as fully as possible. Specially trained occupational therapists use traditional therapies and complementary techniques to help reduce pain and anxiety.

El manejo del dolor

Cada persona que padece una enfermedad avanzada tiene diferentes síntomas y niveles de dolor. Nuestro equipo trabaja con usted para determinar su nivel de sufrimiento: físico, psicológico, social o espiritual. Le ayudamos a usted, a los miembros de su familia y al equipo de tratamiento médico a controlar todos los aspectos de su dolor para que pueda vivir lo más plenamente posible.

Consulta de cuidados paliativos de apoyo

Supportive palliative care consultation is available only upon request of your attending physician. If you would like a palliative care consultation at Baylor Scott & White Health, please ask your physician or nurse to contact us.

Cuidado de paciente hospitalizado

Las consultas para pacientes hospitalizados solo están disponibles por orden del médico, aunque los pacientes hospitalizados o sus familiares pueden solicitar una visita informativa de un miembro del equipo de cuidados paliativos de apoyo llamando al número que figura en su hospital, de lunes a viernes, 9 a. M. A 4 p. M.

Atención ambulatoria

Las consultas para pacientes ambulatorios están disponibles en las siguientes ubicaciones:

Directivas avanzadas

Instrucciones completas por anticipado, como un testamento en vida o un poder notarial médico

Our director

 

Robert Fine, MD

Dr. Fine has spent his career studying and developing supportive palliative care programs.

Read more about Dr. Fine


Preguntas frecuentes

Supportive palliative care focuses on relieving physical, psychological, social or spiritual problems related to serious  illness. Our goals are to:

  • Improve physical, psychosocial and spiritual symptoms associated with advanced illness
  • Help you and your loved ones cope with changes through the stages of illness
  • Determine prognosis and plan for the future

Palliative care services may be provided at the same time you're receiving medical treatment. Palliative care is not hospice. If a patient is ready for hospice, the social work department can help contact a hospice agency.

Any patient with a serious or life-limiting illness is potentially eligible for assistance.

Nuestros servicios incluyen:

  • Assistance with the management of physical symptoms such as pain, shortness of breath, nausea and fatigue
  • Assistance with the management of depression, grief and anxiety
  • Emotional, psychological and spiritual support for you and your
  • Counseling related to prognosis

Talk to your doctor about receiving supportive palliative care services.

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