Hospice Care Versus Palliative Care

Palliative care is an approach to care for people with serious illness. It can begin at diagnosis or at any later stage, alongside treatments intended to control the disease. Its purpose is to relieve suffering and support quality of life while respecting the patient's goals, values, and choices. Hospice care is generally a comfort-focused subset or service within palliative care for a person approaching the end of life. Many programs use an expected prognosis of six months or less as an eligibility guide, although exact criteria vary. The clinical focus is comfort rather than cure; medications or treatments may still continue when they directly improve comfort. The distinction is therefore about the goal and plan of care, not whether the patient is “still receiving treatment.” A person may receive palliative care for months or years while receiving chemotherapy, dialysis, or other disease-directed therapy. Hospice care usually begins when the burdens of disease-directed treatment outweigh its benefit or when the patient chooses a plan centred exclusively on comfort. Both approaches address more than pain. Physical symptoms, anxiety, depression, anticipatory grief, family...