Center to Advance Palliative Care Launches www.getpalliativecare.org
New Website for Patients and Families Facing Serious Illness
The Center to Advance Palliative Care (CAPC) announced today that it has officially launched its new website for patients and families, www.getpalliativecare.org. The site is designed to provide patients, family caregivers, doctors and policymakers with clear, concise palliative care information that can often be confusing to most consumers. The site is intended to be useful in the decision-making process and includes a comprehensive national directory of hospitals providing palliative care.
"We believe the new website will help people facing serious illness understand the benefits of palliative care. We are especially interested in making it clear that palliative care is appropriate at any stage of a serious illness,” said Dr. Diane Meier, director of the Center to Advance Palliative Care. “Palliative care relieves suffering and ensures the best possible quality of life. It is crucial that people understand that they can receive palliative care at any stage of their illness and alongside curative treatment.”
The website provides clear, easily accessible information and is intended to be user-friendly for adults of any age – even people in their 80s.
Key features include:
- What is Palliative Care: A clear definition and description of palliative care services, glossary of terms, FAQ and a pediatric section
- How to Get Palliative Care: A three-step process for obtaining palliative care services
- Is Palliative Care Right for You: A brief questionnaire to assist consumers in determining if palliative care is appropriate for them or their loved ones
- Palliative Care Stories: Stories of patients’ experiences with palliative care
- Clinician Information: A set of criteria developed to help medical practitioners assess whether a palliative care consultation would be beneficial to them and their patients
- Provider Directory: A comprehensive national directory of hospitals providing palliative care
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The Center to Advance Palliative Care (CAPC) provides health care professionals with the tools, training and technical assistance necessary to start and sustain successful palliative care programs in hospitals and other health care settings. CAPC is a national organization dedicated to increasing the availability of quality palliative care services for people facing serious illness. Direction and technical assistance are provided by Mount Sinai School of Medicine. www.capc.org
Contact: Lisa Morgan, LDM Strategies, 212-924-6182 or [email protected].