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| Four Seasons Hemet Herald | JULY 2022 | 37 Question: What really is Palliative Care? Palliative care has been a board-certified medical specialty since 2006 in the U.S., but the practice of comfort-focused care has been around for centuries. Palliative care is paid by Medicare Part B where Medicare Part A pays for Hospice. Palliative Care is provided by a home health agency because they bill the same way. Very few stand- alone hospice agencies provide Palliative Care so make sure that if you are signing up for Palliative care that they really are not putting you on hospice. Do your research. In comparison to curative care, which is meant to cure a disease, palliative care is meant to make the patient more comfortable and seek aggressive treatment. The definition of palliative care is "to make a disease or its symptoms less severe or unpleasant without removing the cause." Palliative and hospice care both address symptoms, hospice is appropriate only in the last six months of life, as estimated by the patient's physician. Hospice is offered in place of curative treatment. The key question to ask is "what are the patient's goals?" If their goal is to stay home and no longer go to the hospital or skilled nursing facilities or continue getting tested for different things, then hospice is the appropriate type of care. Palliative care is most often provided by a team of professionals very similar to an interdisciplinary hospice team. Clinical evaluation and care discussions are usually provided by physicians, nurse practitioners, and RNs. At times, social workers and chaplains are also involved. Typically a nurse practitioner will reach out to the patient/family once a month to see how the patient's symptoms are being managed. A registered nurse will reach out about once a week to do the same. The patient typically is only seen Monday through Friday during business hours and not on the weekends. Palliative Care needs to be seen as a specialist, just like a cardiologist, a dermatologist or a pulmonologist. It is up to the patient/family to also schedule any additional doctor's appointments the patient needs for his/her curative care. Sometimes Palliative care is ordered by physicians because the word Hospice is a very scary word. Sometimes family choose Palliative Care because Hospice has a certain meaning that we don't want to accept. Hospice is something we all will need at some time in our lives. It is a wonderful program when it is being provided by the right agency. Hospice provides so much more than Palliative care does. The key question is "what are the patient's goals?" There are about 500 hospice agencies marketing Riverside County. They are coming from Burbank, Gardena, Montclair, San Diego, Upland, etc. Please do your research before accepting any type of care being offered you. You have the right to choose the hospice of your choice no matter what is being told to you. If you have questions please call me. I have been in healthcare for 20 years. For any questions please call Jennifer at (951) 663-1060. You have the right to CHOOSE the hospice you want when the time comes. Call Jennifer Partridge at (951) 663-1060. Ask a Question We need homeowners to take photos of the beautiful vistas in Four Seasons Hemet! Please take photos of lovely common areas, pretty flowers, stunning sunsets or sunrises, close ups of cute critters or everyday views of a beautiful day in paradise. Before you submit a photo for the cover of your community magazine, please keep the following guidelines in mind: • Send jpeg format photos to hemetherald@yahoo.com • Vertical format is preferred • Simple, uncluttered photos work best • Digital photos are requested at high resolution, five megapixels or higher • If you have any questions, please call Courtney Taylor at (909) 797-3647 If your photo is selected, we will give you photo credit and you'll have bragging rights FOREVER! MAGAZINE COVER PHOTOS NEEDED!