What Is Palliative Care?

A physician explains how palliative care helps patients at Keck Medicine of USC. 

Monica Zell, MD, a palliative care physician with Keck Medicine, explains what palliative care is and how it improves quality of life for patients with serious illnesses. 

Palliative care is specialized medical care for people with serious illnesses. It focuses on improving quality of life by addressing symptoms and stressors due to illness and the impact these types of serious illnesses can have on the individual and the people in their lives. Another important component of palliative care is providing guidance and support in navigating uncertainty and planning for the future.  

Palliative care can be provided, along with disease-directed treatment, at any age and stage of a serious illness such as cancer; chronic liver or heart disease; or neurologic disease like dementia, Parkinson’s disease or ALS (amyotrophic lateral sclerosis). It is not limited to end-of-life care, although this often is a common misconception, even within the medical field. Over the last decades, the field of palliative care has evolved, and studies have shown benefit in having palliative care be provided earlier in the illness journey.  

At Keck Medicine, palliative care is provided both in the hospital setting and in outpatient clinics. Your palliative care physician works with the rest of your medical team to provide a collaborative and patient-centered approach. During a palliative care visit, we spend time getting to know what matters most to the patient, what a patient’s hopes and worries are regarding their illness and what issues and symptoms are most impacting their quality of life. This will look different for each patient and family, and our goal is to take a holistic approach in supporting you through the ups and downs of the illness experience. Establishing a continuity relationship with an outpatient palliative care physician can be a dynamic source of support throughout your medical journey and transitions of care with serious illness.  

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