Palliative Care in NJ, CT, MD, and the Washington, D.C., Area

At Regional Cancer Care Associates (RCCA), expert oncologists and clinical staff provide a host of state-of-the-art cancer treatments, as well as integrative services such as palliative care. No matter the diagnosis, patients can find compassionate assistance in New Jersey, Connecticut, Maryland, and the Washington, D.C., area at Regional Cancer Care Associates’ numerous locations.

What Is Palliative Care?

Palliative care is specialized medical care for people living with a serious illness. It focuses on treating the symptoms of the illness, relieving the side effects of therapies, and providing comfort. Battling cancer can mean dealing with many challenging symptoms and related conditions, including those caused by the cancer itself and others resulting from radiation therapy, chemotherapy, and other treatments. This is where palliative care can make a significant difference in patients’ lives. This form of support aims to enhance the quality of life for patients who:

Are no longer responding to current treatments;
Need symptom management for cancer or another life-threatening disease;
Require specialized care to cope with their disease daily; and/or,
May soon transition to hospice care.

The 3 Cs of Palliative Care

The goal of palliative care is to enhance the patient experience for those who require an additional level of care. The 3 Cs of palliation indicate the various ways this service assists patients. They include:

Comfort: Whether relieving nausea, constipation, pain, or shortness of breath, the care team is focused on making the patient as comfortable as possible.
Communication: Caregivers are in constant contact with their patients and always monitoring their condition. If a change in care is needed, this is communicated efficiently to the patient’s physicians.
Coordination: The palliative care team coordinates with all the patient’s doctors and other medical personnel, ensuring the seamless delivery of care.

Palliative Care Approaches

Palliative care uses a holistic approach, based on the comprehensive health needs and concerns of a patient rather than simply focusing on treating the patient’s disease. The main goals of palliative care are to:

Prevent or immediately treat disease symptoms and treatment side effects
Address psychological, social, or spiritual issues related to a patient’s diagnosis
Support primary caregivers as a backup for providing care
Maintain the highest possible quality of life for the patient

Typically, palliative care is administered by multidisciplinary teams. A patient’s palliative care team may include:

Board-certified physicians
Registered nurses (RNs)
Registered dieticians
Occupational therapists
Pharmacists
Physical therapists
Psychologists
Social workers
Chaplains

Understanding Palliative Care Services

Palliative care may employ some of the same therapies used to treat the underlying disease, such as when chemotherapy or radiation therapy are administered not in pursuit of a cure but rather to reduce the size of a tumor that is causing significant pain, Palliative care also can use physical therapy, medication, and many other modalities. Regardless, all palliative care services are administered under the direction of qualified, licensed providers. Depending on the patient’s specific needs, palliative care services might be administered in the following ways:

Palliative care in medical facilities: Patients may be admitted to a hospital, long-term care facility, or outpatient clinic to receive services.
Home-based palliative care: Various staff members visit patients to provide palliative care, including assistance with taking medications. This enables patients to remain in their own homes while receiving the care they need.
Hospice: A subset of palliative care, hospice care helps those dealing with terminal diagnoses remain comfortable at home or in a specialized care center.

Conditions That Benefit From Palliative Care

Palliative services are offered to patients who need quality-of-life care. It can help patients suffering from several conditions and diseases:

Palliative Care for Cancer

A patient with cancer may receive palliative care at any point, from the initial diagnosis to the end of life. Palliative care may be given alongside other cancer treatments. At Regional Cancer Care Associates, patients with the following cancer types have access to palliative care:

Chronic Illness Management

Patients with non-cancerous blood disorders and other chronic conditions can receive palliative care to manage and treat their symptoms, prevent or address treatment side effects, and improve their quality of life.

End-Stage Organ Failure

For patients with end-stage organ failure, ensuring comfort and quality of life are top priorities for Regional Cancer Care Associates physicians.

Getting Started with Palliative Care

By facilitating open and honest conversations, Regional Cancer Care Associates clinicians walk patients through every step in the process, including advance directives and shared decision-making. To devise a personalized palliative care plan, the care team will analyze the patient’s need for services such as:

Pain and Symptom Management

After a pain assessment, pharmacological interventions for pain relief may be prescribed. Patients also may benefit from complementary and alternative therapies. Along the way, the care team monitors patients’ symptoms so treatments can be tailored to a person’s current needs.

Emotional and Psychological Support

Regional Cancer Care Associates provides support for addressing mental health concerns such as anxiety and depression. Grief and bereavement support also is available for those who have lost loved ones to cancer.

Quality-of-Life Enhancement

Palliative caregivers, well-versed in cultural competence, are trained to maintain dignity and autonomy during provision of all services.

What Caregivers Need to Know

Palliative care can be just as beneficial to caregivers as it is to their patients. Caregivers carry an immeasurable burden, and Regional Cancer Care Associates is here to support them. Caretakers can call on the palliative care team when they need assistance with the following:

Increasing quality of life and feelings of hope for the patient and caregiver
Needing time off to tend to personal matters or take care of themselves
Requiring support and resources that the current caregiving team cannot access
Transitioning the patient to a new phase of care with expert assistance

Find Comfort and Compassion at Regional Cancer Care Associates

Palliative care makes a difference in the lives of countless individuals each year in the United States, and it is a crucial component of patient-centered healthcare. Serving patients in New Jersey, Connecticut, Maryland, and the Washington, D.C., area, Regional Cancer Care Associates is standing by to provide compassionate palliative care and other treatments to patients battling cancer, blood disorders, and other conditions. For more information about expert cancer care, contact Regional Cancer Care Associates at any of our more than 20 locations today.

Connecting with You

Cancer can influence almost every aspect of your life. At RCCA, our palliative care specialists help to improve quality of life for every cancer patient, so they may wake up every morning feeling comfortable and, most importantly, happy. Contact RCCA at (844) 346-7222 to learn more about our palliative care services.

Regional Cancer Care Associates is one of fewer than 200 medical practices in the country selected to participate in the Oncology Care Model (OCM); a recent Medicare initiative aimed at improving care coordination and access to and quality of care for Medicare beneficiaries undergoing chemotherapy treatment.