What is Palliative Care

Palliative care is a special type of care that aims to support people to live well while they manage their illness. It is appropriate early in an illness while someone is having active treatment, or later when their illness cannot be cured.

Palliative care concentrates on maintaining quality of life by controlling physical symptoms, such as pain or vomiting. It also helps with the emotional, social and spiritual needs that people have. Palliative care supports both the person who is ill and their carers and family.

Palliative care is provided by many different health professionals. Some may specialise in palliative care and work full time in that role. Others include palliative care as an ongoing part of their job, such as GPs and aged care nurses.

Who is involved will depend on the illness and each person’s individual needs.

Resources

Palliative care is an important public health issue. The World Health Organisation’s definition of palliative care is used worldwide including in Australia.
Palliative Care Australia has produced a leaflet called Palliative Care: Relief, Comfort, Support that describes what palliative care is.
Four Corners, a program on the ABC, Australia's public broadcaster, highlighted the contribution of palliative care in their report, A good death. It tells the story of four Australians as they come to the end of their lives, and the people determined to give them a good death.
The Canadian Virtual Hospice has information called “What is palliative care?”.

This page was created on 26 May 2009 and is due for review in May 2011.
Last updated 17 February 2010.