Table of ContentsView AllTable of ContentsWhat Is Comfort Care?Conditions TreatedCare ProvidersBarriers to Care
Table of ContentsView All
View All
Table of Contents
What Is Comfort Care?
Conditions Treated
Care Providers
Barriers to Care
Comfort care, otherwise known aspalliative care, is a form of medical care that focuses on relieving symptoms and improving the quality of life of someone with a serious illness. Palliative care is derived from the word “palliate” which means “to allay or moderate.”
Comfort care can be administered as part ofhospice carein which a person has less than six months to live, but can be used for people anyone who is suffering from a severechronicillness, such as heart failure or COPD.
This article explains what comfort care means, what it involves, when is used, and the possible barriers to accessing care for yourself or a loved one.
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Comfort care does not involve the treatment of an illness or disease. Instead, it focuses on easing the symptoms of a disease to reduce suffering and improve the quality of life. Comfort care may also include providing emotional or spiritual support.
Comfort care involves a multidisciplinary team of providers who work together to ease symptoms of a serious, complex, or terminal illness. The care may be provided at one’s home or in a hospital, specialized nursing facility, or long-term care facility (like a nursing home).
Comfort Care vs. Hospice Care
Comfort care may be a component of hospice care, but it is not the same thing as hospice care.
In contrast, comfort care can be delivered even if the condition isn’t necessarily life-limiting. While it was initially intended for people with terminal cancer, comfort care is now afforded to many different diseases, including non-terminal ones.
Symptoms or Conditions Treated With Comfort Care
Comfort care can be used for a wide range of medical conditions and can begin at any stage of an illness from the initial diagnosis to the end-stage disease. You may need comfort care if your illness causes severe and hard-to-treat symptoms like:
Comfort care generally lasts for as long as you have a serious illness, until you enter hospice care, or until you no longer need comfort care.
Comfort care is not limited to a specific medical condition (although coverage and benefits can vary). Conditions for which comfort care may be needed include:
When Is It Time for Comfort Care?Comfort care is typically indicated for people with an advanced chronic illness who still have severe symptoms despite maximum treatment. People in greatest need are those who have been hospitalized in the past and are at a high risk of physical decline.
When Is It Time for Comfort Care?
Comfort care is typically indicated for people with an advanced chronic illness who still have severe symptoms despite maximum treatment. People in greatest need are those who have been hospitalized in the past and are at a high risk of physical decline.
Examples of Comfort Care
The providers involved in delivering comfort care work in coordination to treat both physical and emotional symptoms. The care plan is individualized and may be delivered alongside curative treatments likechemotherapyandradiation.
Based on your needs, the comfort care team may consist of:
Some practices and facilities specialize in coordinating or providing comfort care, including:
Barriers to Accessing Comfort Care
Arguably, the biggest barrier to comfort care is cost. While Medicare, Medicaid, and most private insurers offer coverage for palliative care services, co-pay costs can be prohibitive and certain treatments and medications may be excluded.
Moreover, if care is needed in an inpatient facility, the cost of room and board is often not covered unless you have supplemental insurance or a high-premium policy.
Even if you can afford the cost of comfort care, there is a serious shortage of palliative care specialists in the United States. According to a study in theAmerican Journal of Medicine,there are only around 6,600 physicians practicing in the field, roughly a quarter of what is needed.
Summary
While comfort care is commonly used in hospice care, you do not need to be dying to receive comfort care treatment. Medicare, Medicaid, and most private insurance plans offer coverage for comfort care services, although there may be co-pay costs and excluded treatments.
5 SourcesVerywell Health uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.National Institute on Aging.Providing care and comfort at the end of life.Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services.Hospice.National Institute on Aging.What are palliative care and hospice care?National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization.Palliative care or hospice?Kamal AH, Bull JH, Swetz KM, Wolf SP, Shanafelt TC, Myers ER.Future of the palliative care workforce: preview to an impending crisis.Am J Med. 2017 Feb;130(2):113-114. doi:10.1016/j.amjmed.2016.08.046
5 Sources
Verywell Health uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.National Institute on Aging.Providing care and comfort at the end of life.Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services.Hospice.National Institute on Aging.What are palliative care and hospice care?National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization.Palliative care or hospice?Kamal AH, Bull JH, Swetz KM, Wolf SP, Shanafelt TC, Myers ER.Future of the palliative care workforce: preview to an impending crisis.Am J Med. 2017 Feb;130(2):113-114. doi:10.1016/j.amjmed.2016.08.046
Verywell Health uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.
National Institute on Aging.Providing care and comfort at the end of life.Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services.Hospice.National Institute on Aging.What are palliative care and hospice care?National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization.Palliative care or hospice?Kamal AH, Bull JH, Swetz KM, Wolf SP, Shanafelt TC, Myers ER.Future of the palliative care workforce: preview to an impending crisis.Am J Med. 2017 Feb;130(2):113-114. doi:10.1016/j.amjmed.2016.08.046
National Institute on Aging.Providing care and comfort at the end of life.
Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services.Hospice.
National Institute on Aging.What are palliative care and hospice care?
National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization.Palliative care or hospice?
Kamal AH, Bull JH, Swetz KM, Wolf SP, Shanafelt TC, Myers ER.Future of the palliative care workforce: preview to an impending crisis.Am J Med. 2017 Feb;130(2):113-114. doi:10.1016/j.amjmed.2016.08.046
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