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Palliative care is supportive care for individuals with advanced illness. The focus of palliative care is to effectively manage pain and other symptoms in individuals with a serious life-limiting illness, even when the underlying disease cannot be cured. The goal of palliative care is to provide comfort and improve quality of life. Palliative care also provides information to help patients cope with serious physical illness and successfully manage their stress.
Harbor Palliative Consultants are specialists in pain and symptom management. A Certified Palliative Care Physician, working closely with a team of experienced professionals, can help individuals better manage their symptoms.
In addition to managing physical symptoms, Harbor Palliative Consultants assist with emotional, social and spiritual aspects of care. During an illness, palliative care can help patients and their families achieve a better quality of life.
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Please contact us for more information:
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231.728.3442 or 800.497.9559. |
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Palliative Care is delivered in a variety of settings. Our palliative care team will help determine how to best care for someone in the following settings:
- Assisted Living Facilities
- Long Term Care Facilities
- Hospitals
- Cancer Centers
- Harbor Hospice Palliative Care Clinic
- Home Setting
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Most insurance plans, including Medicare and Medicaid, cover all or part of the palliative care consultation and treatment but may require prior authorization. Our benefits consultant is available to answer questions regarding insurance coverage and to discuss payment options.
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Harbor Palliative Consultants offer an interdisciplinary approach to care. Our team includes a palliative care certified physician, nurse practitioner, social worker and nurses. Other professionals may include chaplains, pharmacists, dietitians, rehabilitation specialists, physical therapists, bereavement counselors and home health aides according to each patient’s need.
Essentially, the core purpose of Palliative Care is to match the patient’s goals with their treatments. Individuals with a serious life-limiting illness face difficult and complex choices. Harbor Palliative Consultants will work with patients and families in a respectful way to help set goals that are designed to provide the best possible quality of life.
We will work with your attending physician to assure that your symptoms are relieved and your pain is treated effectively and compassionately. We do this using both traditional and alternative pain management approaches.
Another focus of palliative care is to enhance each patient’s quality of life. We make recommendations for treatment of symptoms such as nausea, restlessness, constipation, shortness of breath and anxiety, which can often accompany a serious lifelimiting illness.
Palliative Care may be beneficial if a person is suffering from pain, stress and symptoms caused by a life-limiting illness. Examples may include kidney failure, advanced respiratory or cardiac disease, advanced dementia, stroke, cancer, AIDS, Multiple Sclerosis, Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis-ALS.
For additional information about Palliative Care, please click here:
Having an Advance Directive in place is a good plan for everyone. An Advance Directive enables you to express preferences related to pain and symptom management, patient advocacy, treatments desired or declined and resuscitation status.
Download our Guide to Creating a Peaceful Space
Anyone can initiate a palliative care referral, but it does require a physician’s order to be covered by insurance. Please contact your health care provider or Harbor Palliative Consultants and we will assist in the process for evaluation.
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"WHAT IS PALLIATIVE CARE?”
