Palliative Care Medical Reference
- What Is Hospice Care?
Hospice isn’t always a place. It’s about care at the end of your life. Find out what to expect. Keywords: hospice, terminal
- Why Caregiving Can Lead to Depression
Being a caregiver and neglecting your needs can have serious consequences: More than 40% of caregivers have symptoms of depression. Find out why.
- What to Expect When Your Loved One Is Dying
Learn what happens to a body in the months, weeks, and hours before death, and what you can do for someone who is dying.
- What Is Life Support?
Life support keeps the body alive by doing the work of bodily functions that are failing. Learn what life support includes, when it's needed, and when it might be stopped.
- Caring for a Person With Dementia
WebMD's guide for dementia caregivers offers basic information on dementia as well as tips and resources for those taking care of people with Alzheimer's disease or other forms of dementia.
- Talking to Children about Death
WebMD offers age-based advice on what parents might say to siblings of a sick or dying child.
- End of Life: Coping with Anxiety and Depression
The palliative care team can help patients and their families deal with anxiety and depression as the end of life draws near. If clinical depression occurs, it can be successfully treated.
- Neonatal Palliative Care: Focus on Life
WebMD offers help to parents who have just learned their newborn may not survive a life-threatening condition.
- Feeling Grief and Loss While You're a Caregiver
As a caregiver for someone with a long-term or incurable illness, you may start grieving before they pass away. Learn more about how to deal with your emotions.
- Advance Directives
Advance directives are legally binding and tell doctors what life extending measures you want taken, or not taken, if you are unable to communicate. Medical power of attorney designates a person to make decisions not covered in your advance directives.
- Questions of Death and Dying
As life draws to a close, people need answers to important questions. WebMD reviews some of the issues that often come up in the palliative care process.
- Life-Threatening Illness: What to Tell Family, Friends
How and when to talk with your family, friends, and children about a life-threatening or terminal illness.
- Getting Your Affairs in Order
Things to think about If you're facing a life-threatening illness: Be sure you've drawn up a will, filled out an advance directives form, appointed a healthcare power of attorney, and discussed funeral/burial/cremation plans with your family.
- Managing Pain: Beyond Drugs
WebMD explains non-drug therapies and techniques to ease the pain of a life-threatening illness.
- Pain Medications for Palliative Care
Medications can ease the pain of a life-threatening illness.
- Siblings of Children with Serious Illnesses
WebMD explains palliative care teams, also known as pediatric advanced care (PAC) teams, that partner with families to address the range of typical emotions that siblings of a seriously ill child may experience.
- How to Find Palliative Care
WebMD offers resources to find information on palliative care and palliative care practitioners.
- When Is Palliative Care Appropriate?
WebMD explains palliative care, designed to boost the quality of life for people with chronic or terminal illnesses.
- The Palliative Care Team
WebMD takes a look at the palliative care team, the services the team provides, and a suggested list of questions to ask your palliative care team members.
- What Is Palliative Care?
Serious illness often comes with serious pain and other symptoms. Learn how palliative care can help you live your best life, even when you’re sick.