Living with Serious Illness

According to a study done by the RAND Corporation, approximately sixty percent of Americans live with at least one chronic illness. At Notre Dame Health Care, we know and understand the struggles that come from living with a serious illness. From ongoing treatments, stress, and pain to the loss of self-worth. The struggle for daily life can become consuming for many people living with a serious illness.

Improved quality of life
Our care teams at Notre Dame Health Care’s At Home Division (Hospice and Palliative Care) understand that people living with serious illness still want to have a good quality of life. More and more people living with a serious illness, along with healthcare professionals, are looking at palliative care as a way to help. Palliative care is specialized medical care for people with serious illness. This type of care is focused on providing relief from the symptoms and stress of dealing with a serious illness. The goal is to improve quality of life for both the patient and their family.

A comprehensive approach to care
Palliative care programs are often times offered by organizations who also offer hospice services. This is because hospice service providers understand that someone who is diagnosed with and being treated for illnesses such as heart failure, kidney disease, diabetes, or cancer, often have physical, emotional, spiritual, and social concerns that may go beyond what most healthcare providers can offer. That’s why it is important to recognize the needs of these patients and provide a more comprehensive approach to their care. We treat the whole person not just the disease, thorough a holistic approach that focuses on the mind, body and spirit.

We are here for you
Notre Dame Health Care’s At Home Division offers an array of hospice and palliative care services with a strong team of compassionate caregivers to help meet the needs of people suffering with serious or life-limiting illness. We have the largest pediatric palliative care program (Pedi Pals) in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts and have been serving Central Massachusetts for more than 10 years. Our hospice program has been caring for patients in the region for over 13 years. Our adult palliative care program is able to use all we have learned through each of these successful programs about quality of life and we believe we are uniquely qualified to meet each patient and their families wherever they are on their journey to support them physically and to help them to achieve their emotional, spiritual and social goals. To learn more about all the programs offered at Notre Dame Health Care, click here.