Palliative care focuses on symptom relief and quality of life and can run alongside curative treatment at any stage of an illness. Hospice is for a life-limiting illness, generally when a physician expects six months or less, and typically follows a decision to stop curative treatment.
The distinction that matters
This distinction is one of the most commonly confused in senior care, and getting it right matters for both practical and emotional reasons. Palliative care is not synonymous with end-of-life care -- it's a medical consultation service that can begin at diagnosis and continue through active treatment aimed at curing or managing a disease. Hospice, by contrast, generally requires a physician's certification of a limited life expectancy and typically follows a decision that curative treatment is no longer the goal. Importantly, a family can change hospice providers, and a patient can revoke hospice and return to curative treatment -- neither choice is permanent or irreversible.
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