Penn State Hershey Palliative Care provides compassionate specialized care for the living…. and for those who are sharing the person's journey.” NHPCO
What We Do
- Provide medical assessment and expert symptom management for the seriously ill
- Develop a patient specific, palliative care centered, treatment plan.
- Provide the overarching management of the patient and care plan
- Integrate other medical departments and specialties into the treatment plan.
- Provide social service support
- Manage outpatient care and placement
- Provide holistic care for the patient with consideration of the family and loved ones
Pediatric Services
- Palliative care for children is the active total care of the child's body, mind and spirit, and also involves giving support to the family.
- Palliative care seeks to enhance quality of life in the face of an ultimately terminal condition.
- It begins when illness is diagnosed, and continues regardless of whether or not a child receives treatment directed at the disease.
- Health providers must evaluate and alleviate a child's physical, psychological, and social distress. Palliative treatments focus on the relief of symptoms (eg, pain, dyspnea) and conditions (eg, loneliness) that cause distress and detract from the child's enjoyment of life.
- Effective palliative care requires a broad multidisciplinary approach that includes the family and makes use of available community resources; it can be successfully implemented even if resources are limited. It also seeks to ensure that bereaved families are able to remain functional and intact.
