Palliative care, also called supportive care, aims to reduce or eliminate symptoms of the life-threatening disease or side effects of treatments.
Tips & Links
Palliative care is about improving the quality of your life if you have been diagnosed with a life-limiting disease. It is different from hospice care or end-of-life care because it should be started at the time of diagnosis – not just at the end of your life.
Learn More
- Understand the meaning and purpose for palliative care from Dying with Dignity Canada.
- Learn about hospice and palliative care in your home, hospital, or residential care setting from Healthlink BC.
- Learn about how palliative care includes sources of support to meet your emotional, spiritual, practical, and social needs from the BC Centre for Palliative Care.
- Learn how to access palliative care services in your own community by asking for a home care assessment from your health authority.
- Explore the ways medication, physical and rehabilitation therapies, anesthesiology, psychology, social work, radiology, massage, acupuncture, and meditation can help relieve symptoms. Start by speaking with your physician, nurse practitioner, or specialist.
- Learn how to apply for BC Palliative Care benefits, once your physician has determined you need palliative care, to cover some of the costs for medications, supplies, and treatments from the Government of BC.
Things You Can Do
- Share your values, beliefs, and any concerns about end-of-life care, the dying process, death and after life preferences.
- Think about and voice your choices around personal boundaries and privacy and confidentiality during your illness and after your death.
- Record your wishes in documents such as your advance directive, and an advance care plan.
- Review the steps to take if you are planning an at home death in BC from the Government of BC. This needs to be an ‘expected’ death, confirmed by your physician, a Do Not Resuscitate or No CPR order completed and supports in place.
- Learn about MAiD and how to navigate the steps for medical assistance in dying from Dying with Dignity Canada.
- Let your health care professionals, care partners and family members should know if you have a Do Not Resuscitate or No CPR order, a written advance directive or Medical Orders for Scope of Treatment (MOST) document, are an organ donor, and/or if you have a written advance care plan.
Find Support
- Find some peace of mind by sharing your feelings and exploring end-of-life choices with the people you trust.
- Discuss your decisions with family, trusted individuals, and those responsible for specific tasks. While these conversations may be emotional, they can be essential for peace of mind.
- Explore the option of having those close to you connect with a peer support volunteer prior to a medical assistance death from MAID Family Support.
- Learn about how other families and family caregivers are coping with the grief and loss of a loved one through Family-Caregivers of BC.
- Find space and opportunity to incorporate meaningful cultural and spiritual rituals or practices into your health care journey and end-of-life care.
- Seek meaningful guidance from those you trust to support your end of life care and decisions as outlined by Healthlink BC.
- Explore the many resources for end-of-life support provided by Dying with Dignity Canada.
Mywell Health helps you organize your health choices and decision documents in one place. File both digital and print copies and information under My End of Life Decisions.