Frequently asked questions

Palliative care services may include:

• Pain and symptom management
• Care coordination with your healthcare team
• Assistance with your medical plan of care
• Referrals to a palliative care navigator for help with insurance forms, options for care, housing and other assistance forms, options for care and housing and other assistance
• Help with advance directives and/or referrals for spiritual care

If you would like to make an appointment with a palliative care specialist, ask your primary care physician or other medical provider for a referral to get the process started. You may also contact Sentara for more information.

If you're a patient in a Sentara hospital, you may be referred to one of our inpatient palliative care specialists for a conversation about how palliative care may help you. If our inpatient palliative care specialist determines this service can help, they'll provide a referral for outpatient palliative care when you're back at home. Sentara hospital patients may also request a conversation with one of our inpatient palliative care specialists by asking your attending physician or nurse to help set up this conversation.

You can have it at any age and any stage of an illness, but early palliative care in your illness is recommended.

Recent cancer guidelines say that cancer patients should receive palliative care early and together with their other treatments. People who are newly diagnosed with advanced cancer should receive a palliative care consult within eight weeks of their diagnosis.

Palliative care is designed to help you carry on with your daily life, as comfortably as possible. You can expect help managing symptoms such as pain, shortness of breath, fatigue, constipation, nausea, loss of appetite and difficulty sleeping.

It helps you better understand your condition and your choices for medical care. In addition, look for support from palliative care when undergoing medical treatments. To put it simply, with palliative care, you can anticipate experiencing a higher quality of life whenever possible.

Palliative care is offered in both inpatient settings (such as hospitals) as well as outpatient settings (such as palliative care clinics). 

Services vary by area.

Caring for someone with a serious illness is important. Being a caregiver is a challenging role that can affect their health and well-being. The palliative care team understands these challenges and are experienced in supporting caregivers. They work to support the caregivers and your family so they can better help you while staying in a healthier physical and mental space. 

As the caregiver, we also invite you to attend palliative care appointments with your loved one. Being there in person often creates better communication and gives us a chance to check in with you as well.