Palliative Care

Palliative Medicine at Mayo Clinic Health System provides whole-person care for patients who are experiencing a serious or life-threatening illness. The goal is to prevent and relieve suffering, respecting the desires of our patients as well as their families and caregivers. Palliative Medicine also helps with decision making based on individual and family goals, quality of life and prognosis. Palliative Medicine seeks to improve quality of life in the face of a life-limiting illness.

The Palliative Medicine team consists of a collaborative group of physicians, advanced practice nurses, nurses, chaplains and social workers. Working together, the team builds a care plan that carefully considers the unique needs of each patient.

Palliative Medicine addresses physical and emotional symptoms.

Physical symptoms include:

• Breathing difficulties
• Constipation
• Nausea
• Pain
• Poor appetite
• Poor sleeping

Emotional symptoms include:

• Anger
• Anxiety
• Fear
• Frustration
• Grief
• Loneliness
• Sadness

Palliative Medicine can also provide assistance with advanced care planning and do-not-resuscitate orders and bracelet.

A referral is required for Palliative Medicine services. Contact your primary care provider to discuss a referral for these services.

Appointments for Palliative Medicine are offered via on-site video visits, which reduce the need to travel far and enable patients to receive care close to home.

For an on-site video visit, patients arrive to the clinic and a nurse connects them with a specialist by live video. Our innovative technology uses a Bluetooth stethoscope, a USB otoscope and high definition cameras that can move and zoom in for a high-quality physical exam and personal conversation with the specialist.

Video appointments are currently offered at select locations in Wisconsin and Minnesota. Learn more about on-site video appointments.