Home-based Palliative Care

What is palliative care at home?

Home-based Palliative Care brings expert medical care, symptom management, and emotional support directly to your home—helping you and your loved ones navigate complex health challenges with comfort and dignity.

Palliative care is specialized medical care focused on improving quality of life for individuals facing serious illnesses, such as cancer, heart failure, COPD, advanced dementia, and other progressive or life-limiting conditions.

Palliative care at home is designed for patients who:

• Have advanced or complex illnesses causing them to be homebound.
• Prefer to receive specialized palliative care in the comfort of home rather than a hospital or nursing facility.
• Need comprehensive support for managing symptoms, planning for future care, and improving quality of life.

By providing palliative care at home, we help patients maintain independence, reduce unnecessary hospital visits, and receive compassionate, personalized care tailored to their goals and values.

Palliative care vs. hospice

While both palliative care and hospice focus on comfort and quality of life, there are key differences.

• Hospice care is for individuals with a life expectancy of six months or less who choose to focus on comfort rather than curative treatments.
• Palliative care is available alongside curative treatments and at any stage of illness. A key component of palliative care is helping patients and families decide if and hospice care may be beneficial.

Palliative care at home: what to expect

Home-based palliative care offers specialized medical care for individuals living with serious illnesses.

How we support you:

Through home and telemedicine visits, our multidisciplinary team of palliative medicine specialists (physicians, nurse practitioners, nurses, and social workers) provides:

• A care plan for managing symptoms at home, such as pain, nausea, fatigue, and shortness of breath.
• Emotional, psychological, and spiritual support, helping you to understand your illness and what to expect in the future.
• Advance care planning to ensure that your medical care plan aligns with your values.
• Care coordination among medical and social support services for ongoing help, such as financial assistance and government benefits.
• Caregiver support, helping loved ones navigate the challenges of caregiving.
• If qualified, physical support through Mass General Brigham Home Hospital, allowing for access to hospital-level medical care at home.

What to expect as a patient:

• Initial consultation to assess your needs and create a personalized care plan.
• Regular home visits for symptom management and ongoing support.
• Virtual check-ins and phone support for urgent concerns.

All members of our team communicate regularly with your primary care provider, specialists, and other community-based providers.

Patients may receive this care for months to years, depending on their needs and preferences.

Eligibility for palliative care at home

To qualify, patients must:

• Have a life-limiting serious illness.
• Live within our geographic service area.
• Have a Mass General Brigham primary care provider or a primary specialist.

How to access palliative care at home

To begin home-based palliative care, start by talking to your primary care provider or specialist and requesting a referral. Once we receive the referral, our team will review your medical history to determine your eligibility.