Care for long-term chronic illnesses
At Ascension Medical Group St. John Palliative Care, our goal is to help you and your loved ones living with a serious illness. We start by listening to you and your loved one. Then, we work with you to create a personalized care plan that helps improve quality of life by addressing individual needs, defining care goals and facilitating communication between you, your family, and your care team.
Palliative medicine specialists identify both physical and emotional pain. We understand how an illness can affect the emotional health of you and your family. Your palliative care specialists provide treatment plans to alleviate suffering and manage pain throughout the continuum of care.
The goals of palliative care includes assessing and treating pain and other symptoms, communicating care goals, providing support for complex medical decision making, providing practical, spiritual, and psychosocial support, coordinating care and offering bereavement services. Palliative care is often provided in collaboration with medical treatments, including curative and life-prolonging therapies. It is NOT hospice care.
Palliative care may be part of a care plan for those with:
- Cancer
- Congestive heart failure (CHF)
- Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD)
- Emphysema
- Kidney failure
- Liver failure
- Lung disease
- Neurological diseases, such as ALS and Parkinson’s
- Dementia
Palliative care can also treat:
- Pain or discomfort
- Shortness of breath
- Fatigue
- Anxiety
- Depression
- Lack of appetite
- Nausea
- Constipation
Talk with your care team if you or a loved one are interested in palliative care as part of your care plan. A referral is required. Fax number is 918-403-6341.