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Palliative Care as an Option for PALS

Palliative care, a multidisciplinary approach to treating people with chronic illnesses, can be a viable and valuable option for people with ALS (PALS). Palliative care focuses on symptom/pain control as opposed to trying to cure an illness. It combines a robust roster of medical, spiritual and emotional services as well as support to meet each patient's individualized needs.
"Palliative care is a service offered to people who have chronic illnesses and who need to focus on symptom and pain control, perhaps forsaking or delaying further curative attempts," said Julien Olivier, DMin, BCCC, Fellow in Hospice & Palliative Care and Chaplain at Wentworth-Douglass Hospital in Dover, NH. "PALS could seek palliative care at any time, beginning with their diagnosis. An expert team helps patients and their families address coping skills, anxiety, use of assistive devices, necessary support services, end-of-life issues and more."
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