What to Know When Hospice Care Is Part of Advanced Cancer Care Planning: An Expert Perspective

Meaningful Conversations is a Cancer.Net blog series that describes the important discussions people may need to have with their providers, caregivers, and loved ones during cancer and offers ways to help navigate these conversations. 

If you have been diagnosed with advanced cancer, your health care team may discuss hospice care with you when addressing your goals of care. Hospice care is a type of care provided when a cure is no longer the goal of treatment or when someone is in the last months of life. Hospice care prevents and relieves symptoms and helps you live the rest of your life as well as possible. 

It can be hard to talk about end-of-life care. But hospice care can be an invaluable part of the cancer experience for you and your loved ones. It’s important to learn about your options and to make your wishes known to your providers and caregivers.  

In this podcast, Karan Jatwani, MBBS, talks with Amy Case, MD, FAAHPM, about the purpose and benefits of hospice care, how it differs from palliative and supportive care, and what to expect when discussing and planning for hospice care.

• What is hospice care, and how does it differ from palliative and supportive care? [7:25] 

• Where does a person receive hospice care? [11:37]

• What are hospice care options for people who live alone? [15:41] 

• Can people with cancer stop hospice care if they get better or want to resume cancer treatment? [17:53] 

Dr. Jatwani is a hematology/oncology fellow at the Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center. He completed his palliative care fellowship at the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center. Dr. Case is the Lee Foundation Endowed Chair of the Department of Supportive and Palliative Care at the Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center.

Dr. Case and Dr. Jatwani have no relationships relevant to this content to disclose. 

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