Palliative care: Overview
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About palliative care
Palliative care is a holistic approach that treats a person with serious illness of any age, and in any setting. It involves a range of care providers and includes the person's unpaid caregivers.
If you have a serious illness, palliative care can:
- help improve your quality of life
- reduce or relieve your symptoms
- help you make important decisions
- provide grief support to you, your friends and your family (or chosen family)
- support you and your caregivers throughout your illness, from the time of diagnosis
This approach to care can involve:
- management of symptoms such as:
- pain
- nausea
- anxiety
- depression
- difficulty breathing
- emotional, psychological, social and spiritual support
- grief support
- caregiver support
These services aim to make you and your caregivers feel as comfortable as possible, even while going through treatments intended to cure your illness. They can include personalized treatment plans that meet your needs and the needs of those who are caring for you.
Available services
Palliative care can be provided in a variety of settings, such as:
- at home
- hospitals
- long-term care facilities
- hospices (a home for people living with serious illness)
Many people prefer to receive care at home as it can be more comfortable for them with the right supports.
The majority of people living with serious illness can have high quality palliative care provided directly by:
- primary health care providers, such as:
- family doctors
- nurses and nurse practitioners
- volunteers
- caregivers
- social workers
- personal support workers
- members of the community
Primary health care providers can help provide palliative care for people with serious illness that:
- helps improve their quality of life
- aligns with their values and wishes
This can include helping to:
- understand their illness better
- manage symptoms
- connect with and help coordinate supports and services
- plan ahead for the future
If you need more specialized services, primary health care providers can refer you to other providers and specialists.
Learn more:
- Infographic: Explore the full spectrum of palliative care
- Palliative care services near you (Canadian Virtual Hospice)
- Caregiving benefits and leave (Government of Canada)
- Hospice and palliative care services in your area (Canadian Hospice Palliative Care Association)
Grief support
If you live with serious illness, you may experience grief related to:
- loss of health, independence and sense of control
- changes in roles within your family, chosen family, social circles or workplaces
Grief is a natural response to loss, and it has no timeline. Your experience will be personal and may shift over time.
If you know or care for someone living with serious illness, you may experience grief as you notice these losses. You might also experience grief as you prepare for future loss.
Grief is a lifelong process of adjusting to change and loss. It involves finding new ways to experience comfort and meaning in life, even without the people or roles we've lost.
Grief support services can help during different stages of illness and after a loss. The support you receive will depend on your circumstances and the approach that works best for you.
Learn more: