What is Palliative Care at Home

If you're seeking a comprehensive treatment method that maximizes the well-being of your senior loved one and their family members, palliative care can provide an ideal option. While providers do not offer these services everywhere, many can seek this at-home treatment method that emphasizes the quality of life through assistance with daily living, medication management, nutrition plans, spiritual support, and resources for caregivers and loved ones. 

Each palliative care plan is personalized and designed by a medical team to meet each patient's needs. You can seek out palliative care for your senior loved one as soon as they are diagnosed with a serious illness. Recent research from the World Health Organization and Annals of Behavioral Medicine indicates palliative care can reduce hospital visits and improve outcomes in cancer patients. 

Palliative care continues to grow, as 61% of hospitals with 50 or more beds now employ a palliative care team. Moreover, per the Center to Advance Palliative Care, more than six million people in the United States could currently benefit from palliative care. 

Below, we delve into palliative care at home. Read on to determine if it's right for your loved one. 

Palliative care at home is an interdisciplinary treatment method centered around improving the quality of life for patients with serious illnesses and their loved ones. Health care providers, including doctors and caregivers, typically collaborate on individualized palliative care plans. 

The choice to receive treatment at home over hospital care is highly personal and made on a case-by-case basis. This person-centered process requires a conversation about palliative care with your senior loved one, their primary doctor, and family members. Aim to have this conversation early in the illness to determine if palliative care is an ideal pathway. 

You might choose palliative care at home over hospital care if you prioritize your loved one's quality of life, emotional health, and spiritual well-being. Moreover, palliative care doesn't necessarily keep you from seeking a cure, as providers can integrate these services with other treatments. 

Palliative care at home is an option for anyone dealing with a serious illness and can begin immediately after a diagnosis. It differs from hospice care, which is only available to patients expected to live six or fewer months. 

During palliative care, the medical team collaborates with loved ones to treat symptoms associated with the end stages of life. In addition to providing medical services, the team aims to maximize quality of life and provide emotional and spiritual support. 

Below are several common elements of palliative care at home:

• Medication and Pain Management: The palliative care team collaborates to adjust dosages, alleviate pain, and minimize side effects as much as possible. 
• Spiritual Care: Spiritual care is a broad but central element of palliative care. It might include spending time with loved ones outdoors, mending broken relationships, attending religious services, and reflecting on the meaning of life. 
• Nutrition Support: Palliative care frequently includes nutritional assessments as a part of the general focus on well-being and quality of life. 
• Caregiver Support: A palliative care plan frequently includes loved ones and caregivers. Caregivers often receive support through resources, education, and respite care. 
• Assistance With Daily Living: If required, palliative care plans can include assistance with activities like bathing or showering, hygiene, and getting dressed. 

Just as with nursing homes, assisted living, and hospice care at assisted living facilities, there is a time and place for palliative care at home. 

There are several key reasons you might opt for palliative care at home over hospital or hospice care. We've listed the main factors below:

• Higher Comfort and Quality Of Life: Palliative care centers around providing patients with a high quality of life, allowing them to experience more comfort during the end-of-life stage. 
• More Time With Family and Loved Ones: Receiving care at home allows your senior loved ones more frequent and easier access to family time. 
• Personalized and Patient-Centric: Each palliative care plan is unique to the patient, ensuring that they receive the services they need. 
• Reduced Burden on Caregivers: Palliative care involves a collaboration between medical professionals, which takes some of the decision-making burden off of caregivers.
• You Can Still Seek a Cure: Despite the common perception, receiving palliative care at home and seeking a cure aren't mutually exclusive. You can still make regular trips to hospitals and health care clinics for diagnosis and treatment. 

If your loved one is experiencing a serious illness, you can ask about palliative care. 

You do not have to wait until their illness reaches a late or critical stage to start palliative care at home. Unlike hospice care, palliative care becomes an option as soon as your loved one receives a diagnosis. According to recent research, palliative care is most effective when started early, which helps to reduce unnecessary hospital admissions and physician visits. In cancer patients, palliative care can increase both quality of life and odds of survival. 

While palliative care at home has become more prevalent, it is still not available everywhere. Fill in your zip code, city, and state in our Senior Care Directory to find care options near you. 

Our Family Advisors are also ready to help you find the right palliative care option for your senior loved one. Call them at (800) 973-1540 for customized, one-on-one service.

Various payment options can help your senior loved one access palliative care at home if providers offer these services in your area. Several factors can affect how you pay for palliative care — primarily your senior loved one's insurance plan.

Below are several options for paying for palliative care at home:

• Government assistance (Medicare, Medicaid)
• Private or employer-sponsored health insurance
• Veterans benefits
• Grants from nonprofit organizations
• Out of pocket

Whether you are considering hospice care vs. assisted living, a nursing home vs. hospice, hospice vs. comfort care, home care vs. hospice care, or weighing hospice care costs, you should know that palliative care is an option. 

If you are weighing hospice vs. palliative care, remember that hospice care is typically only available to patients estimated to have six or fewer months to live, while palliative care at home is an interdisciplinary method available to your senior loved one as soon as they receive a diagnosis. 

• Hoerger, Michael, et al. (2018). Impact of interdisciplinary outpatient specialty palliative care on survival and quality of life in adults with advanced cancer: a meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials. Annals of Behavioral Medicine
• Palliative care. (2020). World Health Organization
• Palliative care at home: what to expect for your loved one. (2024). Notre Dame Healthcare
• Palliative care facts and stats. (n.d.). Center to Advance Palliative Care
• Providing spiritual care. (2022). MarieCurie.org
• Understanding palliative care: it's not what you think. (2020). American Lung Association
• Vandergriendt, Carly. (2025). What is palliative care and what you need to know. Healthline
• Vandergriendt, Carly. (2025). What's the difference between palliative care and hospice? Healthline
• What are palliative care and hospice care? (2021). National Institute on Aging