What Is Hospice Care — and How Is It Different from Palliative Care?
Last Updated: November 2025
Medically Reviewed by Dr Jessica Knape, MD MA. Board Certified in Internal Medicine and Integrative and Holistic Medicine.
Summary
Palliative care can begin at any stage of a serious illness and focuses on quality of life, symptom control, and emotional support—alongside curative treatment.
Hospice care is a specific type of palliative care for people with a life expectancy of six months or less who are no longer pursuing curative therapy.
Both emphasize comfort, dignity, and holistic care—but hospice adds structured end-of-life support for patients and families.
Choosing hospice doesn’t mean “giving up”—it means focusing on living fully until the end.
The Key Differences at a Glance
Palliative Care:
Timing: Any stage of serious illness (from diagnosis onward)
Goal: Improve comfort while still treating the disease
Location: Hospitals, clinics, or at home
Coverage: Often covered by standard insurance or Medicare Part B
Team Members: Doctors, nurses, social workers, spiritual counselors
Family Support: Counseling and care planning
Hospice Care:
Timing: Final stage of life (usually ≤ 6 months prognosis)
Goal: Focus solely on comfort and dignity—not cure
Location: Usually at home, hospice house, or nursing facility
Coverage: Fully covered by Medicare, Medicaid, or private insurance hospice benefit
Team Members: Doctors, nurses, hospice aides, social workers, chaplains, volunteers
Family Support: Grief counseling and 13 months of bereavement support after death
Why Comfort Care Isn’t “Giving Up”
When people hear “palliative care” or “hospice,” they often think it means death is imminent or that treatment has failed.
In reality, these services add life to days—even when medicine can no longer add days to life.
Palliative care helps patients with chronic illnesses—like heart failure, COPD, or cancer—manage pain, fatigue, breathlessness, or anxiety while still receiving treatment.
Hospice care begins when treatments no longer improve survival, but comfort, meaning, and closure matter most.
Studies show patients in hospice often live longer and with less suffering than those continuing aggressive treatment to the end.
Families report lower depression and post-traumatic stress after their loved one’s passing.
Who Can Benefit
Palliative Care May Help If You:
Have a serious chronic illness (e.g., cancer, COPD, heart or kidney failure, dementia).
Experience frequent hospitalizations or emergency visits.
Struggle with pain, breathlessness, nausea, or anxiety despite treatment.
Feel your care is fragmented between specialists.
Hospice Care May Help If You:
Have been told your life expectancy is six months or less if the illness follows its usual course.
Have decided to stop curative treatment (like chemotherapy or dialysis).
Want to remain at home and avoid unnecessary hospitalization.
Need spiritual, emotional, or caregiver support during end-of-life transition.
What Hospice Care Includes
Medical management of pain, breathlessness, nausea, anxiety, and insomnia
24/7 on-call nursing support for emergencies
Home visits by nurses, aides, and social workers
Equipment & supplies (hospital bed, oxygen, medications for comfort)
Respite care so caregivers can rest
Bereavement support for family after death
All of this is covered under Medicare Hospice Benefit, which includes medications, equipment, and care coordination.
What Palliative Care Includes
Pain and symptom management alongside ongoing treatment
Help with advance care planning and decision-making
Emotional and spiritual support for patients and families
Coordination among specialists to ensure consistent care goals
Discussions about when to transition to hospice (if needed)
When to Start the Conversation
You don’t have to wait until the final weeks to talk about comfort care.
Ask your healthcare provider if palliative or hospice services might help when you notice:
Declining function or frequent falls
Weight loss, weakness, or fatigue
More ER visits or hospitalizations
Emotional or caregiver strain
Desire to focus on comfort rather than cure
Early palliative involvement has been shown to improve survival and emotional well-being in patients with advanced illness.
How Healthspan Internal Medicine Supports This Transition
At Healthspan Internal Medicine, our precision and functional approach integrates whole-person care with advanced planning.
We collaborate with local palliative and hospice teams to:
Manage symptoms with the least medication burden possible
Support caregivers in maintaining their own health
Ensure medical, emotional, and spiritual needs are addressed
Coordinate between hospice, specialists, and primary care for continuity
Common Myths
Myth: “Hospice means I’ll die sooner.”
Reality: Studies show hospice patients often live longer due to better symptom control
Myth: “Palliative care is only for terminal illness.”
Reality: It’s appropriate at any stage of serious disease.
Myth: “You can’t go back to treatment once you choose hospice.”
Reality: You can revoke hospice at any time if your goals change.
Myth: “It’s only about dying.”
Reality: It’s about living well until the end.
How to Access Care
Ask your primary care provider for a palliative care referral (covered by most insurance).
If prognosis is ≤ 6 months, request a hospice evaluation—this can be done at home.
In Colorado, hospice is available through local certified agencies.
For caregivers, organizations like TRU Hospice Care (Boulder) and Compassion & Choices offer counseling and respite resources.
Summary
Palliative care focuses on living better with serious illness.
Hospice care focuses on living meaningfully when time is limited.
Both share a single purpose: comfort, dignity, and compassion—not as the end of care, but as the most human part of it.
Sources
National Institute on Aging. What are palliative care and hospice care? 2024.
Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. Medicare Hospice Benefit Booklet, 2024.
National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization. NHPCO Facts and Figures, 2024.
Medically reviewed by
Dr. Jessica Knape, MD, MA Board Certified in Internal Medicine and Integrative and Holistic Medicine
Healthspan Internal Medicine — serving patients in Boulder, CO
Book a Discovery Call | About Dr. Knape
This content is for educational purposes and does not replace personalized medical advice.
