Palliative Care can be broadly classified into two main types: active and passive. Active Palliatives help the patient with cancer by improving his/her physical and emotional health, while Passive Palliatives focus on managing or reducing pain. Both Palliatives can be combined for the purpose of achieving optimum results. In fact, many patients require a combination of both treatments to have a prolonged survival, since the combination of the two will improve the overall functioning of the whole body and may increase the chance of long-term survival. However, some patients may require only passive Palliatives, and active Palliatives alone.
Hospice of the Golden Isles offers palliative care for terminal conditions like Cancer, Congestive Heart Failure (CHF), Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD), End State Renal Disease (ESRD), Liver Failure, Neurological/Stroke, Dementia/Alzheimer’s, HIV/AIDS, and Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS). The goal of this program is to make life as comfortable as possible for patients while they get the necessary medical and psychological assistance they need to make it through the final stages of their lives.