Palliative Care Resources
Information and resources to help community partners, clinicians, care navigators, and other trusted messengers share information about palliative care and connect people to local services.
What is Palliative Care?
Palliative care is specialized medical care for people living with a serious illness. It focuses on relieving symptoms, easing stress, and improving quality of life. It can help with pain, nausea, fatigue, shortness of breath, trouble sleeping, and other physical symptoms. It also provides emotional, spiritual, and practical support for patients and their families.
Palliative care is provided by a team that may include doctors, nurses, social workers, chaplains, and other specialists. They work alongside a person’s existing doctors and care team. They do not replace their care. They add to it. And, palliative care is available at any stage of illness, including soon after diagnosis, whether or not a person is still receiving treatment.
Palliative Care Can Help People and Their Families
Understand their illness and the care options available to them
Manage symptoms and side effects
Support emotional, spiritual, and overall well-being
Navigate difficult family conversations and care decisions
Connect to community services and caregiver support
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Share the Guide
The palliative care guide, offered in English, Spanish, and Chinese, explains what palliative care is, how it works, where palliative care services are available, and how to ask for a referral.
We are putting the finishing touches on the guides and will have them available here soon. If you would like to be notified when they are ready, please get in touch.
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Coming Soon: Presentation Slides on Palliative Care
We are developing a slide presentation on palliative care designed for clinicians and community educators to use when leading community workshops or staff trainings. Paired with the video resources below, it will give you a ready-to-use toolkit for introducing palliative care to any audience.
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If you would like to be notified when this resource becomes available, please get in touch.
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Find Palliative Care in San Francisco
Our palliative care directory is designed to help clinicians, care navigators, community health workers, and community-based organizations connect people in San Francisco to local palliative care services.
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Most palliative care programs require a referral from a doctor or other clinician. If you think palliative care may be helpful for someone you work with, you can support them in asking their doctor or healthcare team about a referral. Some programs may also offer guidance on how to request one.
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We hope this directory makes it easier to identify available services, connect people to support, and help them take the next step toward care that reflects their needs and wishes.
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Video Resources
These videos can help clinicians, community educators, and other trusted messengers introduce palliative care to the people and groups they serve. All three are well suited for use in presentations, workshops, or staff trainings.