Palliative (PAL-ee-yuh-tiv) Care
Some Definitions from the Web:

• Care given to improve the quality of life of patients who have a serious or life-threatening disease. The goal of palliative care is to prevent or treat as early as possible the symptoms of the disease, side effects caused by treatment of the disease, and psychological, social, and spiritual problems related to the disease or its treatment. Also called comfort care, supportive care, and symptom management.
• Treatment to relieve, rather than cure, symptoms caused by cancer. Palliative care can help people live more comfortably.
• Sometimes referred to as comfort care or hospice care, palliative care is a comprehensive approach to treating serious illness with a focus on keeping dying patients comfortable through pain control and addressing psychological, social, and spiritual concerns, instead of treating the disease or condition.
• Specially trained physicians and other caregivers provide pain relief, control ongoing symptoms, and offer counseling for patients with advanced disease.
• Palliative care is an approach to life-threatening chronic illnesses, especially at the end of life. Palliative care combines active and compassionate therapies to comfort and support patients and their families who are living with life-ending illness. Palliative care strives to meet physical needs through pain relief and maintaining quality of life while emphasizing the patient's and family's rights to participate in informed discussion and to make choices. ...
• Treatment to relieve, rather than cure, symptoms caused by cancer. Palliative care can help people live more comfortably. Physical therapist A health professional trained in the use of treatments such as exercise and massage. Platelets Special blood cells that help stop bleeding. Port (also treatment field) The area of the body through which external beam radiation is directed in order to reach a tumor. Prosthesis An artificial replacement of a part of the body. ...
• treatment that relieves symptoms, such as pain, but is not expected to cure the disease. The main purpose is to improve the patient's quality of life.
• Care given to people with chronic, often life-threatening illnesses. Care focuses on symptom management, such as relieving pain or stopping nausea, enhancing quality of life and psychosocial needs.
• Treatment aimed at relieving symptoms and pain rather than effecting a cure.
• Treatment given to relieve symptoms of pain caused by advanced cancer. Palliative therapy does not alter the course of a disease but can improve the quality of life.
• care of persons whose disease is not responsive to curative treatment. The goal of palliative care is achievement of the best possible quality of life for the person and their family.
• Care provided to keep the patient as comfortable as possible, rather than to cure a disease.
• a variety of supports and treatments designed to relieve the symptoms and enhance the quality of life of those with advanced cancerl
• Caring for a patient by maintaining the best quality of remaining life.
• Treatment that is not intended to be curative, but to relieve or alleviate symptoms.
• involves treatment of pain, discomfort, anxiety and/or sleep problems for terminally ill people.
• Healthcare strategy designed to relieve or lessen the symptoms of diseases for which there is no cure. AD drugs on the market today provide only palliative therapeutic activity.
• This is the active care of people whose illness does not respond to curative treatments.
• care that is given to a person with progressive, advanced disease with little or no prospect of cure and for whom the primary goal is to maintain quality of life.
• A comprehensive approach to treating serious illness that focuses on the physical, psychological, spiritual, and existential needs of the patient. Its goal is to achieve the best quality of life available to a patient by relieving suffering, controlling pain and symptoms, and enabling the patient to achieve maximum functional capacity.
• Palliative care is any form of medical care or treatment that concentrates on reducing the severity of the symptoms of a disease or slows its progress rather than providing a cure. It aims at improving quality of life, and particularly at reducing or eliminating pain.