Palliative Care is a special kind of health care for individuals and families who are living with or dying from a life threatening illness, or who are bereaved. It provides physical, emotional, social, and spiritual support for the individual as well as family and friends.

Palliative Care relieves suffering and improves the quality of living and dying.

Palliative care can be combined with treatments aimed at reducing or curing the illness, or it can be the main focus of care when cure for the illness is no longer possible.

Palliative Care can be provided at any point in time during the course of the illness. The intensity of care needs may vary with time.

Our services can be tailored to meet each person’s special situation with choice being at the heart of care. Our program offers the following services:
1. Pain and symptom management
2. Social and emotional support
3. Spiritual support
4. Caregiver support-including family and professional caregivers.
5. Volunteer support
6. Bereavement support
7. Public and professional education
...And more

Individuals and family members living with a life-threatening illness can benefit from palliative care. Many people who receive palliative care support have cancer. However, palliative care can assist those living with other diseases such as advanced heart, lung and kidney disease, Alzheimer disease, HIV-AIDS, multiple sclerosis and others.

Palliative care also can be beneficial to caregivers. Care giving may cause a person to experience a wide range of feelings and reactions including physical and emotion exhaustion and stress —all of this is normal. Remember, we are here to support the individual, family and caregiver.

The team currently includes consult nurses, social workers, volunteers, and a consult physician.

In order to help you and your family through your journey, they work with your other care providers such as your family doctor, spiritual advisor, community supports, hospital nurses, nutritionists, pharmacists, physiotherapists and occupational therapists.

A referral to the palliative care nurse, social worker and/or palliative care volunteers may be made by anyone, including the individual, a family member, pastor, physician or other health care provider. A referral to the palliative care consult physician must be made by another physician.

It is important that the person being referred is aware of and wants the referral to be made.

Palliative care can be provided wherever the client wishes—at home, in long term care facilities, and in hospital.

Yarmouth
Address: 60 Vancouver Street, Yarmouth, NS,
B5A 2P5
Phone: 902 749 4481
Fax: 902 749 1735

Digby
Address: 75 Warwick Street, PO Box 820, Digby, NS,
B0V 1A0

Consult Nurse – (902) 245-2502 ext. 3335

Social Worker – (902) 245-2502 ext. 3284

Secretary – (902) 245-2502 ext. 1304

Fax:  (902) 245-3000

Hours:  Tuesday, Wednesday & Thursday, 8:00am – 4:30pm

The Social Worker also works Mondays from 8:30am – 4:30pm

Shelburne
Address: PO Box 610, Shelburne, NS,
B0T 1W0
Phone: 902 875 4508
Fax: 902 875 4509