Palliative Care

Palliative Care Services Include:

At Novant Health, our board-certified palliative care team of specialists includes physicians, nurses, and social workers. Together with your own doctor, we make sure that you receive:

• Emotional, practical, and spiritual support for you and your family
• Relief from symptoms including pain, shortness of breath, fatigue, constipation, nausea, loss of appetite, numbness, problems with sleep and much more
• In-depth communication with you and your family about your goals, your concerns and your treatment options—and how to match your goals with those options
• Coordination of your care among all your health care providers
• Improved ability to tolerate medical treatments and the side effects of the disease
• Improved ability to carry on with daily life

Begin palliative care early. 

Palliative care can occur at the same time as all other treatments for your illness. There’s absolutely no reason to wait. In fact, some studies have shown that palliative care may extend life. Pain and other symptoms affect your quality of life, and stress can have a big impact on you and your family. The palliative care team can help. 

Palliative care is appropriate for patients in active treatment for an illness as well as those managing chronic conditions. It often begins at the time of diagnosis or as an illness progresses. Our palliative providers work closely with other Novant Health care teams, including our cancer and heart and vascular specialists to ensure you have access to the supportive services you need at any stage of treatment. You or your loved one might benefit from adding palliative services to a care plan if you or your loved one has experienced one or more of the following:

• Your quality of life has been suffering because of a life-limiting illness
• Condition seems to be getting worse, even with treatment
• Relying more on family and friends for daily help
• Feeling overwhelmed and need help understanding care or treatment options, or other medical information
• Making more frequent trips to your provider's office or emergency department
• Experiencing difficult side effects from treatment
• Have eating problems due to a serious illness
• Need help with talking with your family about your illness and what is important to you
• Had three or more admissions to the hospital within 12 months, and with the same symptoms
• Symptoms that make it difficult to be as active as you would like to be, or impact your quality of life

Your insurance will cover palliative care.

Most insurance plans, including Medicare and Medicaid, cover palliative care. It is handled like other medical services, such as oncology or cardiology.