A short YouTube excerpt in which David Kessler explains that hospice delivers palliative care via services focused on comfort, symptom management, and meeting emotional and spiritual needs. He contrasts hospice (often near end-of-life, e.g., months) with hospital-based palliative care which can begin earlier (years) and may involve a separate specialist team.
How does Hospice administer Palliative Care? Hospice administers palliative care through the services they provide. In making sure that your loved one is always comfortable and their symptoms are managed well, their emotional needs and spiritual needs are getting met. In the hospital setting, there may be a whole separate team. There may be a physician. There may be different nurses who who, in addition to the nurses and the physicians that normally care for you on your floor, are also there as a resource to help you many times earlier on in your care. So sometimes if hospice is maybe six months or a year before you may be facing the end of life. Palliative care in the hospital setting can be two to three years out and can help you with earlier issues that come up.
