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Discover 5 benefits of palliative care
Palliative care can help you cope with symptoms while you get treatment for your cancer. You can choose palliative care right from the start of a cancer journey. Scroll on to learn five benefits of this service.
Palliative care can help you feel better
Medicines or other treatments can help relieve a wide range of symptoms or side effects related to cancer. This includes pain, fatigue, nausea, shortness of breath and poor sleep. And when you feel better, you can focus less on your cancer and more on the things that matter most to you.
Palliative care can boost your emotional health
Palliative care can help people with cancer manage their emotional wellness. It helps with stress, depression and anxiety. Members of the palliative care team may offer medications, counseling or other therapies to help you with these challenges.
Your family will have more support
Palliative care helps people with cancer—and their caregivers too. It provides resources to ease the stress and challenges that cancer can bring to families.
It can help you manage practical matters
Palliative care teams can help with issues that may come up during cancer. You might have questions about insurance or taking time off from work for treatment. Or you might have questions about paying for cancer care or need help with legal forms like advance directives.
It may help you complete your treatment plan
Palliative care can help ease some side effects of treatments like radiation therapy or chemotherapy. When side effects are well managed, it may be easier to tolerate and continue your treatments.
Talk to your doctor if you want to know more about palliative care.
Palliative care vs. hospice
Palliative care can help people throughout their cancer journey. It's not the same as end-of-life hospice care. But there are misconceptions about both.
Reviewed 10/8/2025
Sources
- American Cancer Society. "What Is Palliative Care?" https://www.cancer.org/cancer/managing-cancer/palliative-care/what-is-palliative-care.html.
- American Cancer Society. "Who Should Get Palliative Care and Why?" https://www.cancer.org/cancer/managing-cancer/palliative-care/who-should-get-palliative-care.html.
- American Lung Association. "Palliative Care and Lung Cancer." https://www.lung.org/getmedia/2c9c34a8-cbf6-4ba0-a637-774fc8ba849a/palliative-care-worksheet-2020.pdf?ext=.pdf.
- National Cancer Institute. "Palliative Care in Cancer." https://www.cancer.gov/about-cancer/advanced-cancer/care-choices/palliative-care-fact-sheet.
- National Institute on Aging. "What Are Palliative Care and Hospice Care?" https://www.nia.nih.gov/health/hospice-and-palliative-care/what-are-palliative-care-and-hospice-care.