Saturday, October 13, is World Hospice and Palliative Care Day, which is a unified day of action to celebrate and support hospice and palliative care around the world.  This is also an important day to raise awareness of palliative and hospice care as a crucial, defining part of Universal Health Coverage (UHC).  And the theme for this year is: “Palliative Care – Because I Matter!”

What is the difference between palliative care and hospice care?

According to Cancer Care, palliative care is defined as a specialized medical care for people with serious illnesses.  It focuses on providing relief from the symptoms, pain, and stress of a serious illness, including cancer.  The goal is to improve quality of life for both the patient and their loved ones.

Wherein palliative care improves the quality of life throughout the treatment of a serious illness by providing practical, emotional and spiritual support, hospice care is a form of palliative care that focuses on relieving symptoms when someone living with a serious illness approaches the end of life.

To learn more about Palliative Care, consider reading Cancer Care’s Fact Sheet, “PALLIATIVE CARE: WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW:”

You can also find out more about palliative and hospice care on the WHPCA Website.