Palliative care provides a more comprehensive approach to treatment for those affected by serious illnesses by incorporating a network of health care professionals to improve a patient’s quality of life. Now, a new advisory council plans to educate more Hoosiers on what palliative care can do.

In late March, Governor Mike Pence signed a bill into law establishing a Palliative Care and Life Advisory Council. Members of the council will represent personal and professional perspectives on healthcare and personal investments to advocate for palliative care.

Co-author of the bill, Senator Mark Stoops says he became involved because he wanted more Hoosiers to know about how palliative care could benefit them.

“To me, it was a matter of letting people know this option was out there because I don’t think a lot of people understand it or know they have access to it or can have access to it,” he says.

Palliative care came in to use by hospitals in the nineteen eighties and nineties. A team of specialists which consists of a nurse, a physician, a social worker, a chaplain, and a psychologist, and sometimes other therapists come together to provide another layer of support for a patient beyond their normal treatment. Associate Director of the Palliative Medicine Fellowship at the Indiana University School of Medicine, Dr. Lyle Fettig, says as a practitioner of palliative care, he addresses his patients’ needs beyond just their illness.

“One of the key questions that we ask right away when we meet patients and families is: how has is already affected your life and how are you worried it might affect your life going forward?” he says.

And palliative care can be an option for anyone at any age with a serious illness.

“There are ninety million Americans that are living with some form of serious illness right now, and so palliative care isn’t just for end of life,” Senator Stoops says.

The council will meet soon after the law goes into effect on July 1.

Our guests:

Senator Mark Stoops, D, District 40

Dr. Lyle Fettig, Associate Director, Palliative Medicine Fellowship at the Indiana University School of Medicine