Palliative care functions by treating people “as a whole,” explains Joe Contreras, MD. Although many patients may believe that they are not able to undergo curative or active treatment and simultaneously receive palliative care, that is not the case, he says.

 Contreras, chair of the Institute of Pain and Palliative Care at Hackensack Meridian Health, highlights how palliative care is both similar to and different from other specialties of medicine.

“What makes it unique is [that] it's really focused on the well-being of the person in the setting of serious illness. We approach it holistically—mind, body, and spirit. It's not as simple as thinking, ‘Well, what is a nephrologist? They treat kidneys, diseases of the kidneys, or a pulmonologist? They treat diseases of the lung.’ We treat the person as a whole, and we're interested in the wholeness being preserved in the setting of serious illness. Those people who do respond then do extremely well and, therefore, it's like having any other specialty onboard,” he said.

“You may also have a team of care specialists on board and that doesn't stop you from continuing to receive treatment from all 3 specialists. You have the same rights; you have the same insurance benefits—it's billed like any other specialty of medicine.”

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The chair of the Institute of Pain and Palliative Care explains how the holistic approach of palliative care makes it a unique treatment modality. 

Palliative Care Does Not Prevent Patients From Receiving Curative Treatment

Palliative care helps patients with cancer manage the emotional and traumatic burden that comes with the disease, explains Joe Contreras, MD. Furthermore, improving physical and emotional symptom burden is crucial in helping patients feel well enough to participate in physical therapy and other treatments that improve their overall quality of life.

“If we are successful with the pain, nausea and some of the [other] symptoms that patients with can have, and we're successful with helping one emotionally—because having the diagnosis of cancer obviously, is very scary and very traumatic for not only patients but for their families—then we can get one to feel better,” he explained.

 Contreras, chair of the Institute of Pain and Palliative Care at Hackensack Meridian Health, discusses how the existing literature has demonstrated that palliative care improves patient outcomes.

“We have been able to do studies that have actually focused on looking at whether or not improving quality of life and emotional symptoms and spiritual symptoms could actually have a benefit in terms of longevity of life,” he said.

“It turns out that the group that was assigned to palliative care did have better symptom management scores, did have better emotional scores, and lived 3 months longer.”

Temel JS, Greer JA, Muzikansky A, et al. Early palliative care for patients with metastatic non-small-cell lung cancer. 

. 2010;363(8):733-742. doi:10.1056/NEJMoa1000678

The chair of the Institute of Pain and Palliative Care explains how patients with cancer may improve their treatment outcomes with palliative care.

Palliative Care Alongside Curative Treatment Improves Patient Outcomes

Palliative care does not need to be associated with end-of-life care, explained Joe Contreras, MD. Although many patients may believe that palliative care and hospice care are the same, the former is a specialty of medicine which is available at any point in a patient’s treatment journey, while hospice is usually limited to the last 6 months of life.

In an interview with Oncology Nursing News®, Contreras, chair of the Institute of Pain and Palliative Care at Hackensack Meridian Health, explains some of the key factors which make these 2 forms of supportive care different.

“Palliative care is a specialty of medicine. It can happen at any time in life. If one is diagnosed with serious illness [it] just depends on whether or not that person could benefit. It's a specialty of medicine and not a setting,” he said.

“The philosophy of [hospice] care is very similar to that of palliative care. It's very much comfort oriented, [but patients] can no longer get aggressive treatments, they can no longer get disease modifying treatments or curative treatments. That is one thing that they have to give up,” he continued. “Hospice is clearly not a specialty. It is a time frame.”

The chair of the Institute of Pain and Palliative Care explains the primary difference between hospice and palliative care. 

Joe Contreras, MD

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