Guest blogger:
Kari Haberman, PT, DPT, Director of Palliative Care, Paradigm Health, Indianapolis Indiana

My organization provides home health, hospice, and palliative care services across 14 counties in central Indiana. Paradigm Health was founded in 2013 to serve its community through all three of these offerings, but the last few years have seen major growth in our palliative care program. It’s something I am passionate about and I appreciate ACHC offering me this platform to share some thoughts. In this post, I’ll share what palliative care is and what it isn’t. In my next post, I’ll offer some tips on establishing a program in your community.

So many people living with illness in our communities could benefit from the specialized service represented by palliative care but it is often misunderstood with regard to its purpose and potential. At its core, palliative care is symptom management designed to improve quality of life for the patient and their family and caregivers. COPD, stroke, cancer, dementia, Parkinson’s, heart failure, MS, and chronic pain are just some of the diagnoses that we see in our program.

Palliative care does not replace curative care; patients can be simultaneously receiving additional services like home health, or outpatient therapies (chemotherapy, dialysis, etc.) Palliative care is a distinct, separate focus on relieving symptoms and with that, the significant stress that is a by-product of chronic illness. It’s appropriate for patients of any age and at any stage of illness.

It is care based on needs, not prognosis.

Palliative is NOT hospice care, urgent care, or a replacement for primary care or home health. But it can be extra support for any or all of these by giving patients a medical language-fluent practitioner as a support. Palliative Care practitioners develop a special relationship with their patients and often act a liaison with primary and specialty care teams in support of the patient and their family. Chronic illness makes us vulnerable and that experience can work against our goals. Having an advocate on your side makes a huge difference.