![Mayo Clinic home page [logo]](/images-global/mayologo.gif)
Discover how you can help support Mayo Clinic.
The Palliative Care Consult Service at Mayo Clinic provides symptom control and an opportunity to review the goals of care for patients facing serious illnesses. The word palliative means to alleviate or lessen. The palliative care treatment team enhances quality of life by alleviating symptoms.
At Mayo Clinic, palliative care experts work with primary care providers and with hospital patients facing a serious illness who have limited treatment options. Palliative care at Mayo Clinic addresses physical, mental and spiritual issues surrounding the patient's situation. Palliative care consultants work with family members and patients to foster a sense of personal control, maintain and improve functional ability, and relieve unnecessary suffering.
At Mayo Clinic, a multidisciplinary team of care providers approaches each patient's case with creativity and empathy. A patient's care team may include medical experts in palliative care, medical oncology, radiation oncology, internal medicine, family medicine, anesthesiology, physical medicine, psychology, psychiatry, and other disciplines as needed. Other team members include nurses, dietitians, social workers, chaplains, physical therapists, pharmacists and respiratory therapists. For patients facing a serious medical condition, the primary treatment team will request a consult from a palliative care expert who then works with the primary care provider to identify and address care needs.
All patients suffering from terminal conditions can participate in palliative care at Mayo Clinic. Some conditions have included cancer, heart problems, pulmonary (lung) problems, and neurologic disorders. Symptoms addressed include but are not limited to pain, fatigue, anorexia, nausea, dyspnea (difficulty breathing), anxiety, depression, edema, restlessness, skin disorders, delirium and insomnia.
When the Palliative Care Consult Service is asked to see a hospitalized patient, the patient's medical records are thoroughly reviewed to ensure a good understanding of the patient's medical condition and prognosis. After this review the palliative care physician and nurse meet with the patient and family to identify care needs. The palliative care team then makes recommendations to the primary physicians and provides ongoing consultation while the patient is in the hospital. The Palliative Care Consult Service often assists with dismissal planning, which may include referral to hospice care, skilled nursing care or home health care.
The World Health Organization (WHO) defines palliative care as "the total active care of patients whose disease is not responsive to curative treatment." According to WHO, palliative care affirms life and regards dying as a normal process; neither hastens nor postpones death; provides relief from pain and other symptoms; integrates psychological and spiritual care; comes from an interdisciplinary team; and offers a support system for the family. Mayo Clinic's palliative care program supports these goals.
.
