WesleyLife at Home today announced the launch of the Des Moines area’s first home-based palliative care service.
Palliative care serves people who are living with serious illnesses, offering symptom relief, comfort, and support to enhance overall well-being and quality of life. It differs from hospice care not only in types of services offered, but in that prospective clients don’t need an end-of-life prognosis to qualify for palliative care. 
“WesleyLife is offering palliative care as a complement to other types of care a person might receive; at its simplest, it’s a way to help mitigate the discomfort that often comes with chronic illness,” Aaron Wheeler, vice president of WesleyLife Home and Community-Based Services, says. “It’s available to anyone in any stage of illness, and it is always beneficial.
“People often confuse it with hospice, and because of that confusion, they might steer clear of it altogether. We’re hoping to help make palliative care better understood and certainly more accessible to those who could benefit from it.”
What IS palliative care?
The concept of palliative care was born in 1967 as a component of the then-new hospice movement. Seven years later, a surgical oncologist in Canada coined the term “palliative care” to distinguish it from hospice, stressing that while hospice falls under the umbrella of palliative care, palliative care can be provided from the time of diagnosis and concurrently with life-prolonging or even curative treatment.
According to the National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization (NHPCO), palliative care is most commonly offered from a team of professionals including doctors, nurses, and other specialists, as well as social workers, nutritionists, and chaplains. It can be provided in any setting, and most insurance plans cover it.
It is effective in a variety of situations, but is well indicated for those living with pain, stress, or other symptoms due to serious illness such as cancer, heart disease, lung disease, kidney disease, Alzheimer’s disease or other dementias, HIV/AIDS, or nervous-system disorders.
What to expect
Commonly, a palliative care team works with a person’s health-care team to provide expert symptom management, communication about treatment options and goals, and assistance in navigating the health system. While some people may benefit from receiving palliative care for only a short time, others may receive services for years.
“Our network of services places us in a unique position to offer palliative care at home, as we’re able to lean on a variety of services we already to provide to give people a holistic experience,” Wheeler says. “No other provider of palliative care in our market offers a home-based continuum: health care, non-medical services, nutrition, adult day services, and more. Whatever the experience is that we need to provide, that expertise is readily available.
“What’s more, we remove the impediment of having to travel somewhere to receive the care, which is not always advisable or even possible. We know the vast majority of people want to remain home as they age, so there is tremendous value in providing care in the place they feel most comfortable.”
To learn more or schedule services, visit us or call (515) 978-2777.
