When you start palliative care, you can expect an initial assessment where your team gets to know your symptoms, values, and goals. Then they prepare a personalised care plan that addresses your physical comfort and emotional well-being.
Starting palliative care often brings questions about precisely what happens and how it fits alongside your current treatment. At www.palassist.org.au, our registered nurses and allied health professionals guide families through this process every day.
In this article, we’ll walk you through what your first palliative care consultations involve and what to expect during the initial weeks. We’ll also answer common questions about treatment and hospice differences.
Read on to learn what to expect from palliative care, so you’re prepared for this next step.
What Is Palliative Care and When Should You Start?
Palliative care is a specialised medical support that relieves symptoms and stress from serious life-limiting illnesses like advanced cancer, heart failure, or COPD. You can start it as soon as you’re diagnosed.
A lot of people think palliative care isn’t possible when you are going through other treatments. But frankly, you can receive this care simultaneously to help manage pain, breathing difficulty, motion sickness, and emotional distress.
Let’s get into more detail about the goal behind palliative care.
Relieves Symptoms From Serious Illness
The best part about palliative care services is that they help with many problems at the same time. When someone has a serious illness, symptoms like pain, nausea, breathlessness, and anxiety are often connected. They affect each other and can make daily life harder.
Comfort-focused care works better here because it looks at the whole person instead of treating each problem separately. This kind of support helps reduce overall symptom burden and makes people feel more comfortable and supported (it also makes you feel less alone).
For example, if you’re experiencing pain that keeps you awake or nausea that prevents you from eating with family, your palliative care team will address these issues directly.
But specialised palliative care goes beyond just the physical side of things. In particular, health professionals work alongside your regular doctors to make sure everything supports what you actually need.
Targeted Early Palliative Care for Daily Comfort
According to a retrospective cohort study published by JAMA Oncology, patients with advanced lung cancer who received palliative care within about one month to one year after diagnosis were found to live longer than those who did not receive early palliative care.
This was a large study that included more than 23,000 patients treated in the Veterans Health Administration. It showed that people who received palliative care between 31 and 365 days after diagnosis lived longer than those who did not receive it.
Early supportive and palliative care intervention works because it addresses symptoms before they get out of hand. Plus, when you start at diagnosis, you’re building a relationship with a team that gets to know your unique situation and can manage you accordingly.
Honestly, everyone responds differently to treatments. So, the earlier your team starts, the better they can fine-tune your care.
Pro tip: Ask your care team to document your personal comfort goals in your medical record so all clinicians see them.
What Happens During Your First Few Weeks of Palliative Care?
Your first few weeks involve an in-depth assessment, symptom management setup, and regular check-ins. Meanwhile, your team coordinates with your other doctors to create a personalised care plan.
Here’s a breakdown of the things that happen in your first couple of weeks:
- Preparing for Your First Visit: You bring your current medication list, advance care documents, and someone from your family, if possible. It’s important for you to write down the symptoms bothering you most and any questions floating around in your head. Then you’ll get an initial phone call explaining what to expect.
- Your Initial Assessment: The first visit takes about 90 minutes as your team gets to know you, your illness, and the most important things in your life. They’ll assess physical symptoms, emotional needs, and spiritual concerns. From there, they’ll create a personalised plan around your values and goals.
- Symptom Management Setup: During this stage, your team adjusts medications to tackle pain, nausea, fatigue, and breathlessness. And you’ll learn exactly when to ring them if symptoms get worse between visits. They track what’s working through regular symptom screenings, so they’ll miss nothing.
- Follow-Up Visit Schedule: You should expect weekly or bi-weekly visits during the first month as your team fine-tunes medications. They’ll schedule home visits, clinic appointments, or telehealth check-ins based on what works best for you.
- Coordinating Your Care: The palliative care specialists will talk directly with your oncologist and other doctors about your goals. Since everyone stays on the same page about your preferences, you’ll not be repeating yourself at every appointment. They’ll even come along to other appointments if you ask them.
- Support Services Available: This is when social workers clear up insurance questions, arrange equipment, and connect you with local services. Plus, counsellors offer emotional support for you and your family carers handling this new reality.
- Daily Life at Home: You’ll have a direct number to call if something feels off, while your team monitors how medications affect daily comfort. At the same time, your family members will learn how to help between visits. It’ll reduce stress for everyone.
In the end, these first weeks set the stage for more comfortable, informed, and supported care moving forward.
What Are Common Questions Families Ask When Starting Palliative Care?
Families most commonly ask whether starting palliative care means giving up on treatment and how it differs from hospice care. These concerns usually come from uncertainty about timing and purpose.
We’ll address these concerns below.
Receiving Curative Treatment Alongside Palliative Care
You can absolutely continue chemotherapy, radiation, or other treatments while receiving palliative care support for symptoms like pain, nausea, and fatigue. This side-by-side approach works mainly because early integrated palliative care focuses on comfort while curative treatment targets the disease itself.
When symptoms are well managed like that, you’re more likely to complete your full course of treatment without delays.
Key Differences From Hospice Care
The primary difference between palliative care and hospice care (end-of-life care) is that palliative care can be given at any stage of illness alongside treatment. However, hospice care begins when treatment stops, and you focus only on comfort.
While these two services share similar goals around symptom management and quality of life, the timing differs significantly (but no pressure, take this one step at a time).
For instance, both provide symptom management and family support, but palliative care continues alongside active treatment for as long as you choose. That said, if your condition progresses and you decide to stop curative treatment, you can transition from palliative care into hospice services.
Taking the Next Step in Palliative Care Help
Starting palliative care feels like a huge decision, but you now understand that it’s simply an extra layer of support that works alongside your treatment. The earlier you begin, the better your team can manage symptoms and help you focus on what brings meaning to your days.
If you or someone you love is living with a serious illness, you don’t have to deal with it alone. We at PalAssist offer free palliative care support through registered nurses and allied health professionals who understand what you’re going through.
You can reach the team at 1800 772 273 (available 7 AM to 7 PM daily) or access chat services through our website. We’re always here for you.
Disclaimer: This blog provides general health and product information for educational purposes only. It is not intended to diagnose, treat, or replace advice from your healthcare professional. Always seek guidance from your GP, nurse, continence advisor, or pharmacist regarding your individual needs. If symptoms persist or you’re unsure about product use, consult a qualified healthcare provider.
