Palliative Care Program

The goal of palliative care at Maplewood is to ease the pain, symptoms and stress of a serious illness and allow you to live each day to its fullest. This care can be provided at any age and any stage of disease or illness whether that illness is curable, chronic or life threatening. Our compassionate staff provides treatment designed to respect your values and treatment preferences focusing on the person rather than the disease and includes both the resident and the family in the decision making process.

Palliative care at Maplewood is a team approach to care, a partnership of patient, caregivers and family. The core team includes your doctor, nursing staff and social worker. Others may be part of the team such as a pharmacist, nutritionist and chaplain. They support you and your family every step of the way, not only by controlling symptoms of serious illness such as fatigue, anxiety, depression, shortness of breath, nausea, and loss of appetite, but also by helping you understand treatment options and goals. Working together with your primary doctor, the palliative care team offers physical, emotional and spiritual support, close communication, management of pain and other symptoms, as well as guidance when making difficult decisions regarding treatment choices.

The staff at Maplewood provides dignified and compassionate care for people in the final stages of an incurable disease or illness, so that they may live as fully and comfortably as possible in their final days.  The goal of end of life palliative care is to help residents live their last days as alert and pain free as can be by managing symptoms, to assure that their remaining time is of the utmost quality, while being surrounded by loved ones.    Should your disease process change or improve, Maplewood’s team of compassionate caregivers will work with you to adjust your plan of care and help you take advantage of active treatments, if that is what you choose.

Maplewood’s care team can also partner with a Hospice Care Agency in order to provide you and your family with more support and comfort during end of life care.  Currently Maplewood is affiliated with both Home Health United Hospice and St. Jude’s Hospice.