By Dr. Martha Twaddle

Facing a serious illness is one of life’s biggest challenges, but a special type of medical care, called palliative care, can greatly help by affirming, supporting, comforting and respecting individual needs and wishes.

Many people aren’t aware that palliative medicine exists; others think it’s the same as hospice care. Hospice is palliative care for people with a limited life expectancy of months at best for whom treatments and attempts at cure are more of a burden than benefit. Palliative care is an advantage for people at any stage in an illness or disease, whether that illness is curable, chronic or life-threatening. In fact, palliative care may actually help patients recover from an illness by relieving symptoms such as pain, nausea, anxiety or loss of appetite. Palliative care seeks to support and relieve symptoms for people and their families, as they undergo sometimes difficult medical treatments or procedures, such as surgery or chemotherapy.

Palliative care is provided by doctors who are specially trained to prevent and alleviate suffering, provide guidance in making medical decisions, coordinate care with the patient’s other doctors and help the patient and family navigate the often-confusing health care system. They work as part of a team of health professionals that typically include advance practice nurses, social workers and chaplains. The palliative care team seeks to provide patients and their families’ full support in the face of serious medical challenges – including emotional or spiritual support.

A new Web site, www.PalliativeDoctors.org, from the American Academy of Hospice and Palliative Medicine, headquartered in Glenview, Ill., can help families and patients understand the facts about, and benefits of, hospice and palliative care.

The Web site also explains end-of-life counseling, which has been proposed as part of health care reform (and been misunderstood by many people) and provides tips for caregivers, as well as a variety of resources to help patients and their loved ones receive the highest quality of care.

Visitors to the site can also read about the experiences of patients and their families. For instance, Kate Titus was 22 when she was diagnosed with lymphoma. Seriously ill, and in terrible pain, Kate’s doctors suggested palliative care. Kate thought that meant she was dying. Two years later, with her cancer in remission, Kate credits her palliative care doctors with getting her through “a rough patch in life.”

To find more information about how palliative medicine, please visit www.PalliativeDoctors.org.

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Martha L. Twaddle, MD FACP FAAHPM, is chief medical officer of Midwest Palliative & Hospice CareCenter. She also is the past president of the American Academy of Hospice and Palliative Medicine (AAHPM), an organization of 3,800 physicians and other healthcare providers who are committed to improving the quality of life of patients facing life-threatening or serious conditions. For more information call AAHPM at (847)375-4712.