Massage Therapy Journal Summer 2024

64 • Massage Therapy Journal

T he needs and goals of a person who is facing a serious or terminal illness are different from the needs of most other clients. For many, the main goal will focus on relaxation and comfort versus any expectation around complete symptom relief or recovery.

PALLIATIVE CARE VS HOSPICE CARE What is the Difference?

Palliative Care

Hospice Care

Comfort care Complex relief Lighter massage

Can start at diagnosis

Prognosis 6 months or less

Paid by Medicare, Medicaid, insurance

Paid by Insurance, self

Care can be provided in a variety of locations

Care is generally provided at home

Palliative care and hospice care have many similarities. Both are concerned with improving or maintaining a person’s quality of life. Both, too, center a client’s needs and are meant to help a patient deal with serious illness. There are, however, a few key differences, one being when care can begin. “The main difference between palliative care and hospice is that palliative care is a subspecialty of medicine and can start at the time of diagnosis for advanced illnesses, whereas hospice is an insurance benefit available only to those diagnosed with a terminal illness and have less than six months to live,” Tara Liberman, DO, executive director of Northwell Health’s Hospice Care Network said in an article for Northwell Health’s Insights . “But, whether you’re seeing a palliative care or a hospice specialist, the goal is always to identify the cause of someone’s discomfort, then find different ways to relieve that pain.” For massage therapists specifically, however, massage for both of these populations remain largely unchanged. “There is a difference between palliative care and hospice care,” says Erica Johansen, LMT. “Though the massage is much the same in terms of it being a lighter massage, not a deep tissue massage. Sometimes clients receiving palliative care transition to hospice care.”

In the past, many people associated palliative and hospice care with helping people manage the process of dying. Today, however, the goal is understood to be much more broad and include, among other things, maintaining or improving quality of life and managing troublesome symptoms. Palliative care especially is aimed at helping people with chronic, life-limiting or serious illnesses manage symptoms, as well as the side effects of treatment. This care can span the course of the illness, and is provided alongside other ongoing medical treatment and integrative care strategies. Importantly, as is often seen in integrative health care approaches, palliative care is a team effort and can include doctors, nurses, social workers, spiritual

services and, yes, massage therapists. The Basics of Palliative Care

Using massage therapy as part of an overall health care strategy for clients receiving palliative care is an approach not a specific type of massage technique. Massage sessions used for palliative care are comfort-focused, often shorter than traditional

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